11th Anniversary

For our anniversary this year we went on a painting date.  We left all the kids even Calista with my parents and went to a paint studio.  We've never left Calista before so it was pretty exciting. I like to try to do something a little different for our anniversary besides just going out to eat.  It makes things seem extra special.

We went to this place where for 2 hours they give us directions and we tried to follow along the best we could to make the painting.  It was such a blast.

It was interesting to see how differently Bob and I paint.  And all the other people really.  We were all following the same directions yet they turned out different.  And I am kind of slow.  There were a couple times when Bob was finished between directions and I was frantically trying to catch up as she said the next thing.

Here are our "finished" products.  I felt really rushed and wasn't completely happy with exactly how mine turned out so I worked on it more at home.  Bob laughed at me.  But now I'm totally happy with it.

I chose these paintings because one day we want to go to Paris.  Maybe for our 20th anniversary.

I would looooove to do this again sometime.  I already like painting so this was really the perfect kind of date for me.

This next picture is one of our engagement pics.  We look so young!

Bob has been great these past 11 years!  I couldn't have asked for a better husband.

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Watch What I'm Wearing

This outfit was pretty comfy and perfect because the weather is starting to warm up.

The most clicked on link was by...

J Petite

An InLinkz Link-up

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Mother's Day/ Family Pictures

One of the hardest pictures to take is one with our whole family in it.  I know the kids never last long when it comes to pictures so I tried to have everything set up beforehand.  We took these right after church last week so no one even had to spend time getting dressed for the pictures.  The hardest thing for me was the weather, I really wanted a lot of natural light coming in through the window but that didn't quite happen.  I'm happy with how they turned out!

With all seven of us on the bed it hardly looks king sized.

This picture of just the three of us was a breeze compared to the one with the kids.  You can't even tell that Calista was upset almost the whole time.

This mothers day the kids brought me a cinnamon roll for breakfast in bed.  It was great!  Then when I came downstairs I had an abundance of cards the kids made for me.  The best presents are the ones the kids make.  They are so sweet.

 Bob helped with the giant candy covered card.

 After church we went to over to my moms to spend time with her and my sister.  The only thing I would have changed about the day if I could was the pouring down rain.

I love my kids so much!  It was hard to believe this Mother's Day that I am the mother to five children!  Often I feel overwhelmed at the amount of work and the huge responsibility I feel to do a good job raising them.  I am honored that Heavenly Father sent them to me to be their mom.

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Update

I kind of busy with taking care of a newborn so for today here are some pictures I uploaded off my phone.  If you follow me on instagram you've seen most of these.

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Baby Shower

We have quite a few pregnant people in our ward at church right now.  I think there was sixth (one had her baby).  Three of us were due pretty close to the same time and are all having our fifth babies so friends threw us a baby shower.  It was so nice of them!

Aren't these the cutest cookies?  Tishela makes the prettiest cookies, they always look flawless.

We played some fun games.  My favorite one was with the baby pictures.  The moms-to-be each sent in a baby picture of themselves, one of their previous babies, and their spouses.  Then the host added in some extras to make it harder and everyone had to guess which picture belonged to which person.  Can you guess mine?  I'll post the answer at the end of this.

We played another game where I had to guess the baby food flavors without looking.  I think I got about half right... maybe a little less than that.  It was tough.

 I took a picture of my stash after the shower Since we all already have four kids we asked for freezer meals or diapers instead of gifts.  I am so excited to have all those diapers!  Plus our freezer is stuffed full of meals, it is going to be great not to have to come up with dinner for a little while after the baby is born.  The baby also got a couple outfits, burp clothes, and a blanket.  I wish I took a better picture of it, but we even got a custom painting!  I love it and can't wait to put it up!

I am so grateful to the friends that threw the shower for me and for everyone who came.  I have so much support in my life I feel truly blessed.

Baby picture answers:

 1-Me  7-Tucker 11-Bob

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Philippines Flight!

I've been back from my trip to the Philippines about a week now and I think I've adjusted to the time change.  It is hard to say for sure because with this pregnancy I'm tired all the time anyway.  Now I'm ready to post all my pictures!

I was a little nervous to go on a two week trip without Bob or the kids.  It was by far the longest I've left them and adding on being 30 weeks pregnant I just wasn't sure how things would go.  I thankfully wasn't too nervous and I wouldn't let nerves or being pregnant stop me from missing out on a great opportunity anyway.

It sure was a long day of traveling though!  I think over 24 hours but with the day change things got tricky.  I started out with a ferry ride, then a few block walk to the link that took me to the seattle airport.

Once in the airport I went on what was supposed to be a 15 hour flight to a layover in Hong Kong.  Instead we were on the plane for much longer, probably 16 or 17 hours.  Just before take off we had a sick passenger and had to go back to the gate.  We weren't really sure what was going on and they even called over the PA system for a doctor.  It turns out there was an unaccompanied minor who was throwing up.  They decided to leave him in Seattle but it put is all behind.

I had an aisle seat, which was great for getting up and walking around, but I couldn't sleep at all!  I did watch several movies though.  The food was kind of gross.

Unfortunately when I got to Hong Kong I missed my connecting flight.  I had a few minutes and was hoping to make it but when I walked off the plane an employee was standing with a sign with my name and 6 other passengers names on it.  She was there to escort us to the next flight.  But we had to wait for all the other passengers on her paper and 2 took a very long time getting off the plane so we all missed it.

I spent a couple hours walking around the airport.  My feet were getting swollen at that point.  I felt a little bit silly laying down and putting my feet up in the airport, but i was tired and didn't really care that much what others thought.

This water bottle filling station was cool to me.  You get to pick the temperature of the water you get.

My second flight was pretty short and also pretty empty.  I was in the very back section of a giant plane and got the whole row to myself.  In fact here is a picture of my area after the plane was fully boarded.  It was kind of funny because the front of the plane was full of people.  I don't think they realized how empty the back was or they would have moved on back to get more space.

Once I arrived in Manilla my dad was waiting for me.  It was good they got my message about me missing the flight or they would have been waiting wondering where I was for two hours.  It was past midnight there and I could immediately notice how hot and muggy it was there.  We got a little lost heading to the temple patron house and get to bed around 2am.  I was exhausted but somehow had a hard time sleeping.  It was a super long trip, but I was happy to be there!

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Vacation

I'm going to the Philippines!  My parents are there now finishing up serving a mission and I'm so excited to go visit them!  I'm a little nervous to leave the kids for two weeks, but I'm sure Bob will be fine.  The kids are looking forward to me leaving as much as I'm looking forward to going.  Whenever mom leaves they get to party with dad at home.  Bob's parents are even coming out to help with the kids while Bob works so I'm sure they are going to have a great time.

Tomorrow I'll be busy with Valentines day and packing because early Wednesday I am heading to the airport for a 14 hour flight.  I then have a layover and one short flight to land in Manilla.  It is going to be awesome.

Unfortunately my phone and internet usage is going to be very limited for the next couple weeks so I doubt I'll be able to post on here.  If I do get the chance I'll post on my instagram page dorandaw  so wish me luck and follow me on there.

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Blackberry Cake

For my birthday this year (I'm 29 now!) I wanted this blackberry lemon cake.  Bob offered to make a cake for me but every year I like to try something new and extra fancy so I usually tell him that I'll make my own.  This cake was fun because we even picked our own blackberries.  I usually opt for something chocolate but it was so hot I wanted something a bit lighter.

I turned out messy and not at all like the picture, but I like how it tasted.

The kids thought it looked pretty even though it was messy and goopy.  I think the girls would say anything pink looks beautiful.

I forgot to get pictures, but Bob and I were in Canada on my actual birthday.  When I got home Bob's mom and the kids made cinnamon rolls and put a candle in them and sang to me then.  Then a couple days later I went out to eat with friends, it was great!

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Last Vancouver Day

These are a few random pictures from different days on our trip.  We spent time walking around downtown and looking at the different tourist shops and the cruise ships.  Bob kept reminding me every time we stopped to take pictures that I looked like a tourist.  I'm sure I did.  I was a tourist and I wanted to take pictures :)

One day for breakfast we stopped at the little diner.  It had good reviews online so we decided to go for it.  If we had just driven by we definitely would not have stopped.  It was kind of a grungy  whole in the wall type place.  We both ended up liking it.

Every time there was something on the menu I didn't recognize I ordered it.  I wanted to try the few local dishes they had.  You would think everything was the same because they are only a few hours north but there were quite a few differences.

This gelato was sooo good!  It won some sort of worldwide contest and was totally worth the hour long line.

I thought the money was kind of cool.  I haven't really seen money that was clear before.

We had fun on our short weekend trip up North.  It was especially great to just spend a couple days with Bob and no kids.  I can't remember the last time we did that.  Hopefully we won't go more than a year without a couple days alone again.

Goodby Canada!

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