six years.

He is SIX. Six years old. This kid is no longer a little toddler, but a full on adult mini man. He is at such a fun age of learning and exploring and understanding...we are just over here trying to keep up. River is, and has always been so full of energy, adventure, and wisdom. He has also become quite the comedian and has such a good sense of humor. He loves to tease as well. Like, he teases his sister allllll the time. I guess that comes with big brother duties. oh man.
Some of his favorites right now are...
color: green and white
food: costa vida
drink: milk (almond or soy)
book: harry potter and the order of the phoenix
movie: harry potter
He is still obsessed with Legos. Could build them all day if i let him.
He is a mtn goat when we hike. He hiked up Timpanogos (to emerald lake) this summer all by himself and scales mountain sides like no problem.
He loves playing tennis
He has become a little fish in the water over this past year
He is such an artist and loves to paint and draw
I asked River what his favorite memory is so far in life, and without hesitation, he responded "when Rumi was born." game over. heart melted.

We are so grateful we get to go on this journey of life with you as your parents river. you continue to be the teacher, and us, the students. You are wise beyond your years, sensitive, caring, rambunctious, full of life, and curiosity. And you are so loved. You are loved. You are loved. You are loved.

Happy 6th Birthday!

We had a little birthday party with all the neighborhood friends river made this summer. it was a blast! we have loved playing with these fun kids over the past few months, and we are really going to miss them.  river is super into harry potter at the moment, so of course we had to have a harry potter theme party. now for a massive photo dump of our unforgettable night celebrating our favorite boy.

 xo

TWO.

 Time is a tricky thing ya know. I hate that my baby girl is growing up so fast, but I also love watching her grow and learn, and see her personality develop. She's the funniest little human, with a fiery soul, and the sweetest presence. I can't imagine how I lived life without her.

Right now Rumi is very much into the "i do it" phase. she is oh so independent and if her brother can do it, then you better believe she is going to do it too.

she is such a tease and tries to give me mini heart attacks all day. she'll say, "mama, mama" in her teasing voice as she is climbing to the top of the ladder or sliding off the bed so i will have to run a dead sprint to get to her before she falls. oh man. why?! haha. she also has such a caring and sweet side. she tells me, "its otay" if I'm upset or will ask River if he's ok if he's been crying. we are all just so grateful she is a part of our family. we are obsessed with anything and everything she does.

Some of her favorite things:

favorite animal-alligators, horses, and dogs
~she has to pet every dog we pass, and every day she asks me, "go to farm, ride neigh-neigh?"
favorite color-white
favorite songs she sings-wheels on the bus, five little monkeys jumping on the bed blended into five little monkeys teasing mr. alligator, and of course...baby shark.
I love when she sings "shallow" because her facial expressions are legit. she's definitely a performer
favorite drink-coca (coconut water)
favorite food- rice, dads shakes, and pizza
she is obsessed with all the babies
she knows her colors and i love when she counts, "oooooone, two, free, seben"
if you ask her how old she is she will tell you either "free or seben"
she says damma for grandma and bapa for grandpa
i love when she finds something, she lets out a big "oooooh"
she loves building legos, painting, swinging, side walk chalk, dobby (from harry potter), playing with the kitchen set, and night games.

we have been playing night games pretty much every night this summer with all the neighborhood kids, and usually rumi will stay in our arms as we run around the neighborhood finding the ghost in the graveyard. one night all of a sudden, rumi said, "i hide by self" so we let her. she ran all the way to the other neighbors yard, behind their front porch, and snuck behind a bush all by 12 o'clock rock. we were all so impressed. she gets it. she gets so much. everyday i am blown away by her. she is so smart. so brave. and oh so loved.

happy second birthday baby girl. we love you to infinity and beyond, and beyond that.

we celebrated the best way we knew for this TWO year old. we surprised her with a trampoline when she woke up and then spent the day at the farm where she could ride "neigh neighs" and feed all the animals. she was in heaven. we had a unicorn party for her with family and friends, and it was magical. we are so grateful for all of our family and friends that came to celebrate with us! now, a massive photo dump. enjoy.

 There are some things I am picky about, and I search high and low for the best quality. Pictures and food. haha. I printed tons of pictures over the last two years of Rumi's life and I will only print at Persnickety Prints, because they have the best quality and they're just awesome. Also, I think pictures are the best decorations and make the party so much more personal. And apparently, i take a lot of pictures. ha.

For food, it was quite a challenge to find a good vegan cake here in Utah, but thankfully I found the awesome bakery (in draper), city cakes & cafe. They were so easy to work with and all of their stuff is vegan ( and can be made gluten free too)! 

woohoo. and and and it was sooooo good!

September 14, 2019

xo

RV Life

i have been meaning to journal our rv adventures and share ALL of our highs and lows, but ya know, life happens, and it doesn't stop. so here we are...nine months into our journey. i could write a whole book on our breakdowns/set backs. i think we have broken down or something has happened on every major drive we have set off on. on our way to zion our trailer fender (ya know, the trailer that is just carrying our car) got bent up under the wheel and completely shredded the tire up. it took us a couple of days to figure out that one. we found some guy that rebuilt our trailer fenders and we had to get all new wheels for the trailer. on our way to california we broke down in the middle of the night in death valley. one of our fuel lines broke. we found a mechanic to come out and he magically had the right part, fixed us right there on the side of the freeway, and got us up and running within a couple of hours. luckily, our kids were asleep through the whole thing. i could go on....really. i have some good stories. we had to boondock it in texas for a few days while we waited for another part to get in. but mostly our stories end up about how people have screwed us over with the initial purchase, remodeling, and some shady mechanics...and i don't want to dwell on that because then i think how sucky people are. when really a lot of these events have turned out to help us see that there are some really really good people in this world too.

april 2019

august 2018

from this...

to this.

a lot of people ask us why did we decided to go live in an rv....it definitely wasn't to save money, because um, getting this guy up and going seems like we could have bought a mansion by now;)...and really we had never known of rv life before this. neither of us have lived in one, camped in one, or ever owned one before harvey...oh, harvery is our rv.  river named him the day we bought him. the name suits him. harvey is an old soul. 20 years old to be exact. so we were talking one night and decided we needed a shift. is life really all about getting married, having kids, getting a home, and living in it for the rest of your life? maybe for some people. but not for us. we have never lived inside the box, ya know. we had our little girl (thats one of the main reasons we came back to Utah) and we decided it was time for a new adventure. another reason was to see if we could really do it. ya know, live a minimalist lifestyle (which has been soooo freeing), and ultimately live in 40ft of each other. we like a good challenge. haha. to say its been a dream and super easy would be a lie, but it has been eye opening, made us grow in more ways than we could have ever imagined, and given us some of the best experiences with our kids...and that, that is what it is all about. our kids. giving them experiences. this journey is a part of them now. we have driven across the u.s with harvey and have learned so much a long the way. who knows when we are going to stop. people are always asking us what our next plan is...but guess what, we don't have one. that use to scare me. but i am a little wiser now. sometimes it is good not to have a plan all the time. it leaves a little more room for growth, possibility, and adventure.

so here's to adventure.

xo

5.5

five and a half. i had to write that out to believe it. this boy blows me away every single day. his imagination and creativity keep us going from sunrise to sunset (why do my kids wake up soooo early...haha, but seriously.). he is constantly asking questions and remembers everything, and i mean, every thing. life on the road has been so good for river...he has become more independent and has been given a lot more opportunities to get out of his comfort zone. he has to make new friends all the time, talk to new people/neighbors, and gained so much experience as we have explored the u.s in havery the rv. river loves rv life. he loves his bunk bed, animals, drawing, his grandpa, being outside, bike rides, soccer, crafts, and he could probably build legos allllllll day long. recently we have been reading the harry potter series together and it has been a dream come true (i love the books so much), and he is super into it. for the past two days he has dressed up as snape and made a dungeon in our bathroom and makes me learn spells and mix potions. its the best. haha. i told him when we finish the first book i will take him to universal studios to see it all, and now we are already on the second book so i better get him over there!

exploring florida these past few months, river has become so much more comfortable in the water. hallelujah. he has become a little fish. just give him some flippers and he's good to go. my favorite part about the past six months though is seeing river really grow into the role of big brother. you are such an amazing and caring big bro to your baby sis! yes, you two love to tease each other, but the way you talk to each other, and listen to each other is my favorite thing. you love to teach rumi and man, you are such a good teacher.

river, thank you for pushing me to be a better version of myself everyday. thank you for teaching me patience (sometimes...most of the time...the hard way;)), but mostly thank you for forgiving me time and time again. i love being your mom, but sometimes i have no idea if i am doing it right...for you. i know you were meant for me and i was meant for you. my love for you is unconditional and forever, to infinity and beyond.

you are smart. you are brave. you are important. 

and you are oh so loved.

xo

18 months.

my baby girl is one-and-a-feaking-half.  how? why haven't we figured out how to slow this growing up thing dooooown. she just gets more sweeter and sassier by the day and i love it. this girl knows she can get away with just about anything with those dimples and that big smile. she is so happy and full of energy. she is our little ball of sunshine. she also has a sassy side, loves telling me "no no mama" and teases her brother(s) all day long. she loves music, dancing, and singing. if music comes on she immediately starts dancing. she loves drawing and painting which usually turns into body painting by the end of it.  she has such an amazing memory and will tell me things that happened weeks ago. its crazy. i love watching her grow up. right now we are living in florida and she loves catching lizards and feeding turtles. she wants to hold all the animals and all the babies. its getting awkward because if we see a baby she will keep asking to "hold me", and since she gets whatever she wants i turn into the crazy stranger that goes up to random moms at the park or at the swimming pool and ask if we can hold their baby. it makes rumi's day though so i do it. haha. just the other day she asked to hold a 9 month old baby that was bigger than her. we sat the baby on her lap on the ground and rumi just held her with the biggest smile on her face. the poor baby just kept trying to crawl away but rumi had a good grip on her. haha. she is the best little mama. if we are at the store she will find all the baby dolls and put them in my cart. when we are having a dance party at home she makes me hold all of her baby dolls and her, and dance. its so fun to see the difference in raising a boy vs a girl. they totally come with their own personality and spirit.

the best is when she sings rock-a-by-baby...i need to get that on video. also when she calls for mowgli "moooowey" or when she says "rava"=river. she repeats all the words we say. she is learning her colors and counting. she loves to read and will get some books and climb right up on your lap. she loves being included in everything her brother does and wants to do everything he is doing. she is still the worst sleeper at night and wakes up two to three times....send help. she prefers to be in the nude at all times. don't even get me started on trying to keep shoes on this girl. she loves coconut water, rice, hummus, noodles, and she loves justins dark chocolate peanut butter cups just like her mama. oops. she is a mama's girl hard core, but loves her daddy oh so much. this girl is pure love. we are obsessed. i am so beyond happy i get to be her mama. she makes me laugh every day. and although she can be a little firecracker and a baby boss, we happily oblige because she is just too dang yummy and sweet.

we love you baby girl.

xo