ChRiStMaS VaCaTiOn

Yes, my husband got a pedicure, and yes, he loved it!

Let me begin by telling you about our amazing flight to Salt Lake. All three boys were total gems and everything went perfectly... our best flight yet! Since our arrival in Utah five days ago, we have done a few things. Let me tell you all about it.

We celebrated our 6th Wedding Anniversary on the 18th! I am so lucky to be married to Nick. Nick's parents watched all three boys (with the help of a few aunts and uncles) and we went out on a real date! We had a lovely dinner at Spencer's, went ice skating at the Gallivan Center, and saw the second half of Ballet West's Nutcracker. It was so romantic and fun.

We expected Katelan to come home from her mission that night, but we were so disappointed to find out that she missed her connecting flight in Germany and wouldn't be able to come home until the 20th. We took the boys to Temple Square to see the lights and the Christus. Being here this time of here always reminds me of our wedding. I love it. I can't forget to mention our trip to Eastwood with Calli, Thomas and James to sled down the big hill. Calli and I sent Thomas down by himself and his sled went to the side and he hit two giant jumps on the way down. There was a little wound on his lip but nothing serious. When we got back to home, he told Grandpa Bean that he sledded down the hill by himself and almost went to the moon!

On Sunday, Gary and Sue had my parents and Ryan and Liz over for a lamb dinner and then later that night Katelan finally came home! It was so fun to go to the airport and welcome her home. She looks fabulous and still has her same fun sense of humor. We came home and she had little gifts from Lithuania for all of us. She gave me a pair of amber earrings that I will treasure.

This morning, Thomas nailed me in the eyeball at close range with a hard ball. I thought I was blind for a few seconds. Many tears were shed because I am not as tough as Thomas and James but now I am fine. I know someday I will look back and laugh and miss these crazy days with my boys. Sue was so nice to watch Thomas and Philip while Nick, James and I went Christmas shopping.

Then Sue took all of the girls, sans Cassidy, to a special Anthropologie sweater sale. It's always shopping madness when you are shopping with the Buehner girls, and so much fun! Calli goes nuts and tries on practically everything in the store (all of it looks amazing on her of course.) She will even try on the craziest things, like little elf boots and they still look great on her because she is so beautiful. Sue gives everyone fashion advice and the yes/ no on everything. I laugh and laugh and never buy anything without Calli's approval.

Later on in the day, Katelan wanted to be alone because she was having a hard time adjusting to being home. Nick went into her room and talked to her and when he came out, his mom asked him what he did to adjust to being home from the mission. He answered that it helped to go to the temple, read scriptures and stay on a schedule. He also added that things really got better when he started dating me. I thought that was so sweet.

Tonight my mom and I threw a baby shower for Liz. Everyone invited came and it was fun. I love Liz and know she will be the best mom.

Nick's AMAZING Christmas present!

This morning, in an effort to alleviate some chaos, I thought it would be best to get the boys strapped into their car seats and go for a little outing. Nick was finishing up getting ready to head to school to take his last final before Christmas (hooray!) and I told the boys we were going to go get Daddy a Christmas present.
James exclaimed, "I think we should get Daddy a black Ferrari!"
Then he ran upstairs and when he returned outside after a quick chat with Nick , he said "Daddy loves black! We can go get him a black Ferrari!!!"

Will you Please put on some Pants!?!

Shortly after lunch today, Thomas went upstairs to use the potty and returned with no pants and no undies. Things got a little hectic for a minute and somehow all the toy bins in the closet were dumped in a huge pile on the living room floor. Then there was a knock on the door, and before I could even move, I heard Thomas opening the door. I ran to find my sweet visiting teacher and her three-year-old little girl with the most flabbergasted expressions on their faces. I just said "This is not a good time" and they gladly left. I think my visiting teacher will probably be scared to ever come back!

Tiffany and Julia

After finally seeing the movie Julie and Julia a couple nights ago, I was totally craving a french cooking day so today I made Boeuf Borgeunoun. Thomas and James put on their little red aprons with me and it was an all day family affair (sans Nick because he is still in the midst of finals.) We didn't use Julia Child's recipe. We stuck with our tried and true friend Ina Garten, who has yet to give us a bad recipe. When adding the brandy, the recipe said to burn it off by lighting a match. I didn't realize that this meant that my whole le creuset pot would be filled with raging flames and James and I were screaming. Then I put the top of the dutch oven on and when I lifted it off... no more fire, thank heavens. Thomas ran in the kitchen and was so disappointed that he missed the fire. The boys kept asking me to do it again.
Nick came home to an exceptional disaster of a house tonight but oh what an exceptional bowl (or four) of soup he savored... it was totally worth it!

What a Day!

Today was almost like a dream. I woke up this morning and Nick said, "Let's bust out of here." So we all got in the car and drove to Half Moon Bay. The drive was lovely. The kids were happy and we arrived at the Ritz Carlton to discover that not only were the gingerbread houses on display, but this evening was the tree lighting party! So, we had to spend the whole day there because we couldn't miss a party. The boys wanted french fries and ice cream for lunch and today we let them have it. I had the great idea to get crowns from Burger King for their wise men costumes we need for tomorrow. I got a good laugh when the crowns they gave me were covered with pictures of Edward, Jacob and Bella from New Moon! But I was bold and asked if they had any regular crowns in the back or something and thankfully they did.
Then we went to the beach and it was gorgeous. We even saw a decaying sea lion amidst the rocks! It was crazy because we almost stepped right on him; he blended right in and kind of looked like a log. The bone sticking up out of his head gave him away though.
The Ritz tree lighting party was amazing. Carolers, fires, cookies, hot chocolate, a luxurious castle-like hotel overlooking the ocean... what more could I have asked for today???

We are Stuffed!

We were sad to have Thanksgiving away from family this year but had a wonderful time with our friends, the Richters. The conversation was fun and the food was fabulous! It was so darling to see Philip and Anabelle eating their turkey and sharing cheerios with each other. Happy Thanksgiving!

Girls Night Out

Last week I went to the Midnight Premiere of "New Moon." Loved it!! It was so fun to get dressed up with girlfriends and have a late night out! We dressed in all white with pale sparkly faces to be like vampires in the sun. I love these girls!

Le Joie de Vivre!

Yesterday, I decided to be brave and take all three boys to the beach. We had a wonderful time!

Bon Anniversaire Thomas and James!!

Everyone loves San Francisco!

Philip warmed up to Cass and Scott

James was king of the mountain.

Charlie and Philip finally meet!

We love Aunt Cassidy!

Philip is already asking for the keys.

Uncle Mike was a gem. He played with the boys nonstop.

Feeding baby cows with a ginormous bottle

Brave little James went down the zipline.

My mom was amused that the boys went right to the gorillas "milks" and tried to get something to come out!

Deeply concerned about a baby bird that fell from the nest.

What could be more exciting than a key and a padlock?

Uncle Ryan and Aunt Liz were so sweet to the boys.

Thomas and James are four today!! They are celebrating with Nick in the Magic Kingdom and I am home enjoying Philip and missing them.
July has been fabulous. We spent two weeks in Utah visiting family and had so much fun. Highlights for the boys were riding in Uncle Mikes Ferrari cars, swimming at Grandpa Buehner's pool and driving the power wheels at Grandma Calls. They haven't stopped talking about how much they loved Utah!
We had a little birthday celebration for the boys with the key and padlock cakes (thanks to my mom and Liz) that they requested. Thomas and James loved them. We visited the zoo, went boating at Bear Lake, celebrated great-grandpa Buehner's 80th birthday, went to the Buehner's condo in Heber and had fun hanging out with family and friends. My mom and Liz were so nice to fly back with us and help with the kids. It was so fun to have them here for a few days. Thanks for the fun trip. We miss all of you!

Fabulous Quote of the Day!

A beautiful day at my favorite beach - Capitola

We loved having my beautiful mom come visit us last week! She was so helpful and fun!

This is Prince Philip with his "twin" Lady Anabelle. We love her and her mom too!

Ladies, check out Elder Callister's article in the June issue of the Ensign! He says, "Women ought to be praised for all the gifts they possess - including their attentiveness to their personal appearance - that so unselfishly add to the richness of the lives of others." So next time I'm at the spa getting my nails done or spending extra time on my makeup, I will remind myself of what an unselfish good deed I am doing!

Does anyone else have a baby that just loves to be held more than anything in the world? I have to admit that I really love to taxi Philip around everywhere but I have been extra tired lately and unable to hold him all day. So, a little visit to the baby store has changed my life! I have to let everyone know about the Ergo baby carrier. It's amazing because I can hold Philip (he's well over 20 lbs.) on the front, hip or back for over three hours and it doesn't hurt at all (like the baby bjorn.) He loves it and will even nap in it.

Hooray!

Much to celebrate this week... Nick finished his last final Monday and is officially done with his first year of Law School!! Everyone tells us the first year is the hardest so it is wonderful to have it over and for Nick to have done well. Nick is excited to start working at Ellman Burke in San Francisco in a couple weeks. We are all excited to have him home until then!
Thomas and James are loving school. James has bonded with Teacher Katie and Thomas made me a special bead necklace at school this week. The boys were so excited to get a trampoline today. The 11 foot tramp takes up our entire backyard basically but it's totally worth it because we predict it will wear them out each day and make for an early bedtime.
Philip is now 6 months old! He is still very sweet and is rolling all over and sitting up well on his own. He is a strong little guy. He loves to watch his older brothers and they are so cute to play with him and help keep him happy. I finally got around to decorating his room. I love sailboats and had fun decorating his room with a nautical theme. It is bright and cheery and he loves the mobile above his bed.
I got a great job this week as a community advisor at Stanford. I am excited to get involved and plan student events next year.
We are loving our boys at the ages they are at right now and I almost wish I could freeze them at this age because they are so precious. Thomas and James are so clever and are always making me laugh. The other day at lunch I told them they could each have a prune for a treat (my boys are like little French women, no joke). Thomas said "I'm THREE years old. I need THREE prunes." I said, "Okay, you can each have three." Then James held up both hands and said, "But I have TEN fingers. I need TEN prunes!"
Don't worry... I did NOT give them ten!

Happy Birthday Grandma Call!

We all want to wish Grandma a very Happy Birthday!! I had visions of the boys smiling for Grandma in the picture but the boys had a very late night last night after going to a fun party and were very exhausted from preschool. All three went out for a nap within five minutes of taking the picture.