Capri Goes to Italy!

Capri and I had a blast in Italy to say the least! It was an absolute thrill ride.

It started out with a very long travel day. Left about 4:00 in the morning to make it to my flight that left at 6:00 in the morning had a couple of long layovers but I do have to say I have the best traveling baby she slept for more than half of the plane ride and that is without even being drugged :) Other than that she just played with some animals and just chilled.

Our longest layover was in Paris we had a 7 hour layover which is sadly not enough time to really go visit the city, but we chilled. I, however, was exhausted by the end.

The flight into Italy was just neat as we flew over the Swiss Alps so incredibly beautiful.

When we arrived to the city we were so excited to so HEather! She made a sign with a wooden spoon that said Seniorita Capri, ha this was hilarious, we both were excited. Capri was all giggles and smiles when she was hanging out with her aunt Heather!

We headed home to Heather's amazing apartment seriously it is incredible it is about 400 years old and you can see the city center right when you walk out of their apartment. Quite a view and quite a city...marble sidewalks, cobblestone streets, roman ruins...amazing.

That evening we just rested and I met Laura Lui, such a charming Italian girl she fit the perfect stereotype of an italian, beautiful, amazing cook, passionate, and loving. It was so neat to experience travel in a local view.

Capri and I stayed in Heather and Tyson's guest room it was so incredibly cute, with amazing antiques everywhere but spruced up with heather's bohemian...modern flair. She is one truly talented girl! Her style is amazing she really knows how to place things well and is especially great with color. Check out her blog it is something else :) www.italian-confetti.com.

The first day was super fun, our cousin Lindsey was also in town so we really had a great chance to explore some things. The first thing we did was head over to Laura's house for some Italian cooking. It was definitely one of my favorite things we did there. Laura taught us how to make homemade pumpkin gnocchi. Best pasta I have ever had and quite the experience. Now I just need to practice what I learned. She also made a very simple salad with arugula, roasted sesame seeds, simple yet tasteful.

After that we headed out to go see Juliet's Balcony. It was packed big tourist spot but it was neat to see the place where "letters to juliet", was filmed. We then headed to the colisseum which is in the center of the city and it was awesome. I just couldn't believe how old it was...still standing. It's just interesting to be in a place where there were chariot races and gladiators. So crazy. Lindsey and I took pictures inside as Heather watched capri outside.

We headed home and Heather made some yummy dinner, she is such an amazing cook! The next morning we went out to a vintage fair in an amazing venue it had domed ceilings. I think it was in some kind of castle ruin. It was so fun to see local artists with their creations. We saw everything from jewelry, lighting, wood working, wall art and much more. Heather and I purchased some jewelry of course :) Everyone was absolutely loving capri everywhere we went people stopped and said "que bella", which I believe means I love her. By everyone I seriously mean everyone they are oh so friendly there.

We walked over a beautiful and took the opportunity to take some really fun photos. I just loved being with the twinner, I now cherish every moment I get to spend with her because she lives thousands of miles away. The next day was Sunday. So, we went to church it was so weird not being able to understand anything but yet the spirit was so incredibly strong.

On Monday, we went to Lake Garda which is about 20 minute train ride from Heather's home, it was so beautiful and big. We saw some swan's in the lake that was a first for me. Capri, Heather and I just had some gelato and sat by the lake and took turns taking naps. It was so peaceful and pleasant.

Tuesday, we went to Venice my favorite city to date. What is amazing is throughout the centuries how the city is still standing despite weather, water conditions amidst other things. I guess this just makes it mystical in a sense. It was crazy we probably walked over 30-40 bridges carrying capri's stroller over each one, pretty funny. Capri was a trooper as usual. We had some amazing chocolate's, the best one was a passion fruit chocolate custard, best chocolate to date. It was so fun seeing all the masks for Carnivale as vendors lined the streets, very colorful. As we were walking to St. Mark's Basilica we stopped in a very cute print shop and found some lovely little prints to bring home for Capri's nursery.
We went to St. Marks Basilica and wow, it was beautiful. I went in on my own as Heather watched Capri since she had already seen it. It was so detailed from the intricate detailing of the artwork, domed ceilings, moulding, to the marble walls that looked had an ikat pattern running through it to the diamond shaped floors, the outside of the building had a lot of character as well. We took a water taxi back which was so much fun. I loved seeing people take gondola rides, and watching a group of rowers workout, since that is one of their only forms of exercise, it is nearly impossible to go running as the city is packed with tourists.

I loved the striped wood pools everywhere, stripes everywhere so fresh and fun. So Italy!

We ended up getting basks for Capri, Paul and me.

Wednesday we had a full day of traveling we had to get to the airport early and then arrived in London in the early evening. We went to tesco got some yummy salads and picnicked it in Hyde Park, definitely one of my highlights of the trip! Capri was eating it up.

We then went to our hotel, it was absolutely beautiful and so clean, we got a great deal on it.

The next morning we had meetings for True Birds with TJMAXX London, and with Anthropologie. They went well :) It was fun going to Anthropologies headquarters and seeing their amazingness.

After the meetings we picked up Capri, we had a really cute girl watching her, but when we got back you could tell that she was mad at Heather and me she totally held a grudge the rest of the day. She felt so left out.

We packed it all in, we headed to Portabello Market to go vintage shopping on our way there we hit a high end boutique street full of great designers and fun, fresh looks for spring and summer, just a little out of our price range :) In Portabello market there were so many vintage stores and of course Heather was drawn to the moroccan colorful store, she is so cute! I picked up a "C" for Capri's nursery. We then went to Big Ben and continued getting pics of Capri "Soloing it" funniest album ever. The Thames was right there so we walked along it, it was magical.

On our way back to the hotel we went to a Lebanese restaurant and it was so yummy. I love all the diverse types of food you have there along with people.

We went back to the hotel and headed back to Verona the next day.  Saturday we had yet another cooking lesson from Sarah from Heather's ward. She only spoke Italian but Laura was there to translate for us. We made roasted sesame seeds and then she made us some cheese/herb sandwiches that were to die for, Italians know how to cook. We also had some very delicious strawberry herbed tea. After we took a walk in her small town and stopped by a duck pond, Laura found an abandoned egg and decided she wanted to nurse it back to health. She took the egg and decided to call it "Egg" when it hatched, so funny.

That evening we went to the store and I purchased my very first pasta maker. I also went vintage shopping, they have the best items for cheap! I brought home a chandelier, and basically a whole wall of art!

Sunday was general conference which was great! Later on that evening Laura taught us how to make fettucine with our pasta makers, it was so yummy along with some great red sauce.

Monday we took off early in the morning and went to Milan! It was fantastic, the mall was amazing. Food was great. I wish I could have gone in the Duomo but you literally have to get tickets months in advance  before you go. The painting of the last supper was there wish I could have seen it.

Heather and I of course were dressed like californians, short sleeved shirts and shorts. It happened to be freezing that day. We were silly to think that the weather was going to be perfect. Everyone was in winter coats and looked at us like we were crazy!

We bid farewell to Heather and Tyson and then headed home, long plane ride but Capri did well, best baby ever!

whew glad I got everything written down :)

Capri Laughing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRaFx4sfmdw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Ranch-Giving and Thanksgiving

Well it has been awhile since I have written on this blog! Seriously, I am bad but hey you get around to it when you can right?

Live has been crazy, busy as usual....running a business, new baby, school, new house/new projects. But hey that is what makes life exciting right? It is an exciting time to live.

Some things that I have been grateful for not in any particular order:

Capri

Paul

Clean Water

Food

New Home

Technology and skyping with Heather in Italy!

Family

Friends

The Gospel

These are just a few things.

We were extremely lucky this year we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving twice this year! One at the Ranch near the end of October, immediate family members and extended family members were there. We thought, why not make it an early Thanksgiving, also known as Ranch Giving. Sadly, Mr. Paul couldn't make it out, work work work :(

Some of the highlights of the trip were: picking the perfect Christmas trees for my mom, and sister Sandy. I wish we could have brought one home but I don't think the airline would be ok with that :) It was gorgeous. I absolutely loved the white birch trees with the vibrant yellow leaves, simply breathtaking. Another plus was that it wasn't too cold! This is a family tradition we have had over the years and I absolutely love it, it is so refreshing to hike around and pick your own tree from a mountain side so old fashioned but I love it!

Another highlight was eating the yummy dinner of course, seriously such good food, we had what any other person would have except for the fact that my grandma is a secret chef, she would of course never admit to it but everyone and their dog would agree anything my grandma touches is edibly delish! Moist turkey, mashed red potatoes, pear and gorgonzola cheese salad, stuffing, and grandmas famous rolls.

I was so glad that Capri was able to experience the ranch, it is a place of peace and solitude, we had a great time walking around outside and visiting with family of course. I feel so blessed to have my own special buddy to hang out with all of the time, she is such a charming little lady, I love her to pieces!

Also, my super fun sister in-law Danielle, threw an amazing Halloween party in the barn full of cob-webs, halloween treats and flying bats (ok they were fake but were still rad). It was fun to see everyone geared up for Halloween, and wow did Eric and Danielle/Chanel win in the costume department. They were a family of garden gnomes or as we called them "the gnomies", so funny! Here is the pic of their fam. Chanel was already tuckered out and was in bed by this time in the evening

I will be posting about the Halloween party another time but it was pretty amazing, Brittany and her magical hands...she can make anything look good :)

The homey gnomies!
The decked out barn
Papa holding onto miss Capri, so presh!
The palm tress sisters, ha so funny!
Loading on hand-picked trees atop the car
Oh how I love nature
Sista time-Danielle we missed you!
Just mama and Capri, wearing matching sweaters, funny story she Capri actually had a brown/creme blanket. But, since it was deer hunting season, we decided she needed a color that stood out so she didn't get mistaken for a little deer :)

Just lounging around
Ranch view from the window
Feasting!

We also had an amazing time with the Andrew's family, 9 out of the 12 kids were there, it was fun loud and exciting as usual.

I wish we had brought our camera, unfortunately we didn't bring it, so if any family member who is reading this has any pictures send them on over! The food was fantastic, there was like 12 different dishes! Along with 12 different pies, quite an amazingly delicious feast. My favorite dishes was the fresh green bean casserole, the crispy onions on top SO good. The stuffing was next, so incredibly yummy, Marlyce (Paul's mom) used her homemade bread with it and it was absolutely incredible!

It was fun having Miriam home from BYU, she is always so fun to catch up with, we also had some cousins come in from Lancaster, Kathy and Ricardo, it was fun chatting with Kathy she has a new baby that is a couple of months younger than Capri, her name was Anna. It was fun exchanging birth stories and such. We did truly miss Hyrum and Tiffany, Celeste, and Morgan.

Hopefully we can all get together soon!

Well that's a wrap...now onto Christmas season, I can't wait. I am most definitely listening to Christmas music, and have been since Thanksgiving dinner ended!

Sweet Baby Capri

Pregnancy is over, now I can officially blog, just kidding. Well I guess I have more of an incentive to blog now that we have this precious little addition to our family. My oh my does she bring such a sweet, tender spirit into our home!

So I am going to write a little bit about my pregnancy and my labor. Pregnancy first 3 months seemed to drag on forever as I had the lovely morning sickness! I felt so sick I did not want to eat at all. The rest of my pregnancy literally went by in a flash. I know those that say they didn't like being pregnant, for me I absolutely LOVED it. I loved feeling my baby kick and grow even if it did cause MAJOR heartburn. Heartburn to the point where I would eat just a piece of bread and sure enough the burn was there! The funniest thing was whenever I would eat sugar she would kick...kick...kick, just like her momma she loves Sweet things! I loved feeling so connected to something and having an instant love for this new babe to join our family.

I really was hoping Capri would come on July 4th, so she could always have fireworks on her birthday and be around family, but alas she had other plans. The evening of July 8th, I was feeling some painful contractions that were pretty close together for about 4 hours. So Paul and I called in Labor and Delivery and they told us to come in. We walked in and I was so sure I was in labor, however, they monitored my contractions and informed me I was in false labor. Boy was I bummed I was in SO much pain only to find out the labor wasn't real. However, they checked my blood pressure and for some reason or another it had completely spiked. The doctor was concerned that I might have pre-eclampsia so they told me they were going to induce me since I was already one day over my delivery date.

I was so relieved to finally get my baby here! So, they induced me around 10:00 in the morning on July 9th. The Pitocin was super effective, that I was in some pretty bad pain that morning so they gave me some morphine. It was crazy how fast I dilated, I was at a 1 when I came in and by 11:30 I was already at a 3, I was still in some pretty bad pain so I opted for the epidural which couldn't bring relief quick enough. When they put the Pitocin in the IV it really kicked me into gear by 12:00 I was dilated to a 4. It was so crazy because the morphine was still entirely in my system and I was sleeping in-between my contractions every five minutes I would have a 30 second contraction. The rest of the time I was snoozing! The craziest thing is I went from being dilated from a 5 to a 10 in a matter of 20 minutes! By 1:30 it was definitely time to push, and boy oh boy was I ready. Paul was there helping me so much, telling me everything was going to be ok. Holding my hand even though I probably squeezed his hand so hard his circulation stopped pumping through.They had to break my water as it was unable to break on my own and 30 minutes later, Miss Capri Noelle Andrews came. She was as beautiful as ever, when she came out she was Completely clean which I believe was due to drinking raspberry herbal tea for about a week. She was beautiful, the doctor put her right against my chest right when she came out, she sat there with her eyes completely wide open, I was completely overwhelmed with joy and love that I have never experience before in my life, I would jump in front of a bus for her, take a bullet for her, whatever it would take to protect this sweet new life. I looked at Paul and felt so complete as a mother and wife. I feel so incredibly blessed and love being a mom.

I loved having family come and visit. Heather and my mom were there and were such a big help! My mom flew in on the morning of September 9th, the absolute perfect timing! They came in and threw their arms around me and expressed such great enthusiasm for their new niece/granddaughter. They were so funny they reminded me of tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum as they were both wearing identical striped shirts and sporting the same ear to ear grin. So funny! I absolutely loved seeing them interact with Capri!

Paul's family also came to visit, which was so wonderful! Such a fun, and exciting time, Hyrum and Tiffany were there along with Paul's parents, Rachel, Esther, and Miriam. I loved seeing them interact with our sweet baby doll and see Paul, the proud father show her off to them with such excitement. It was so nice to be surrounded by such love from our family.

The first night we had Capri I was a little nervous I would not get any sleep at all, or that breast feeding wouldn't come naturally but to my pleasant surprise I did get a great amount of sleep as Capri would wake up to feed then go right back to sleep or look around without making a peep :) nursing was easy and I felt a major relief as the first night was spectacular.

The following day we were hanging out and all of a sudden my sister Sandy from Utah busted through the door! I was completely unaware they made the trip out to see us. It was probably one of the best surprises of my life! I can't believe my mom and Heather kept it as such a secret. My little nieces Cameron and Kennedy immediately gravitated towards Capri and Mick (1 year old) their youngest was completely enamoured by her and would run over to her and say "MAMA" so funny and cute to see them all interact. It was so great to see Sandy as she has helped me so much along the way answering all of my pregnancy question, such a wealth of knowledge. I loved seeing her with Capri as she was gleaming just looking at her.

We also had some great friends Todd and Brittany drop in and see us, Brit brought us some of the best beef soup I have ever tasted and visited with us, such a treat to have such amazing support from friends and family.

So just be prepared my blog may just have more than one post a year, yea for babies!

Below are some pics of the little Mrs. I will be posting more soon enough!

beach-worthy-sundays

Paul and I have church at 1:00 in the afternoon so we are trying to make a habit of going to the beach to plan our lesson for the kiddos, we teach the 12-13 group. They are awesome.
We bring our beach chairs and go sit and enjoy listening to the beautiful sound of nature mixed in with little squeals of excitement from kids at the beach :) We went to explore the tide pools and it was super low. I have never seen so many crabs at one time! They were all over the place...it kind of creeped me out because they remind me of spiders for some reason or another. How creepy would it be to be at the beach when it is super dark and the crabs start creeping around you...not a pretty sight!
We went to the cove and to the beach where we had our wedding reception, it was fun we took a pic, trying to do this every year for each year we are married take a pic at our wedding reception beach :) Our 3 year anniversary is near approaching...crazy!

The color of the coral was so virbrant since the tide was so low....

These rock formations are so cool looking, I love the texture

I saw this carved into the sandstone and it really made me laugh...when paul is acting like a girl I call him Paulina :)

Also this last weekend, I was able to see my daddy on his birthday I felt so lucky that I was able to share his birthday with him. Paul unfortunately was really sick and was unable to come. It was so fun catching up with my dad he always make me feel like a million bucks, he is so complimentary and has a contagious smile! He is one of the most Christ-like people I know!

My poor sick baby :(

Oh and I have a new nephew, his name is Mick...I wish I could be back in Utah to see the little dude. Sandy and Tim make really cute kiddos :)

Silly Times

Saturday...love this day to pieces. I sleep in, then wake up grab some yummy fruit and Paul and I contemplate what we want to do for the day...
chores are on the list of course.

Organizing my office something I have been trying to get to forever, it is nearing its end which make me happy!

Paul of course has his early morning saturday mountain bike ride which he loves.

Then we decide to go swimming only problem is I can't find my temporary use card for the JCC. So we decide to put on some tennis clothes to play tennis just in case I couldn't get in. Lo and behold we arrive and their is a huge swim meet going on.

So we play tennis and Paul as patient as ever is coaching me with correcting my stroke, what a guy. We rally for a little bit, Paul teaches me to hit against the ball wall. I really need to do this more often, my goal this summer is to practice against the ball wall at least twice a week, then I can be a better match for the hubs!

Last but not least....we hit up costco...making the mad dash around picking up the usuals. We head off to our car and are about to get in and what happens next?!?!

Paul pushes the cart across the parking lot in hopes that the speed bump will catch it...the cart gains more speed than he predicts flys over the bump and is heading for two cars....Paul takes off as I am furious at him....runs fast enough to catch the cart as it goes inbetween the two cars...whew close one! ...he is one lucky man.

We take off to go home and Paul accidentally takes the 52 West so what do we do? Go eat at Wahoo's of course, just what we were planning on right? Ha ha...perfect little mistake :)

I love my Saturdays even though sometimes they are crazy, I have a funny husband who always keeps me on the edge of my seat!

Aloha!

It is embarassing how long it has taken me to write a stinking post but ever since our Kauai getaway I have decided to start fresh and have a goal to post for a little personal journal. I know...i know i have said this before but this time I am going to follow through life is both exciting and dull at times but it is what we write down that really captures the moment.

Can I just say that if I could I would drop everything and move to Kauai with Paul?! I haven't felt this relaxed in my life for awhile, there must be some healing in the warm ocean water! Paul and I hung out with our awesome cousins, grandparents, aunts & uncles, and funtastic friends. I did miss my sisters and mom, I wish they could have joined me!

Most of the time Paul and I would wake up ready for the adventure of the day. Since the Dietlein cousins are quick to get up on their feet and happen to know the island like the back of their hands led us on some of the most amazing and rewarding hikes I have ever been on. I have to say that I am slightly obsessed with waterfalls and since Kauai has the rainiest spot on the earth and what Mark Twain would call "The Grand Canyon of the Pacific", with those two in combination the waterfalls were abundant!

Highlights of the trip:

Playing May I with our amazing grandparents

Shopping at Jungle Girl and getting some fun jewelry and trinkets

The spouting horn and finding "my precious", turquoise necklace $35 probably isn't real but I am in love, thanks sweetie!

Being lazy on the beach

Constantly searching for sea turtles, we saw some from the distance and I was boogey boarding and a fellow boogeyer told me a sea turtle was swimming right by me I was so bummed I missed out on seeing the cute creature...

Petrified sand dunes on the coastline

Keoki's fine dining-super fun atmosphere with some yummy food and

Pauls' favorite dessert hula pie...basically vanilla ice cream, macadamia nuts, and chocolate yum

Eating Madadamia nuts...we probably ate a little too much..

Tubing down some tunnel with headlights...on florescent...barely bouyant rafts to a fun little waterfall then hiking out. Before we floated down the river we had the choice to wear shoes in the water knowing we would have to hike out and wouldn't be able to raft back Paul opted to leave his shoes and said he could tough it out with his little socks, everyone told him he needed his shoes but when Paul is set on an idea, no matter how many people try to convince him of something he sticks with what make sense to him he had a little bit of a rough time with roots everywhere...but he made it, what a champ! Such fun times hanging out with the cousins!

Kayaking up the Wailua river with Adam and his cute girlfriend Megan...they were such a blast...then seeing and frolicking amazing Wailua waterfall...breathtaking! Thanks to Megan we were able to get some great shots!

Hooking up with Scott and Jess to go on a helicopter ride, Jack Harter helicopter to be exact with no doors....we like to live on the edge!! We went all the way around the island 65 minutes of bliss my favorite was the Nepali coastline which I believe is one of the seven wonders of the world, pictures and words cannot give this place justice, I was in awe the entire time. I was really giddy when I saw the waterfall off of Jurassic Park...so neato.

The crazy roosters that were everywhere...highlight for Paul...feeding KFC chicken to the roosters...poor roosters :(

Rope swinging into Kepu falls...so awesome we went there twice...such a rush!

Paddleboarding at Hanalei Bay with Todd, Brittany and Beckham...

Pretending like we were star fish in the water :)

Climbing up trees, acting like we were Tarazn and Jane!

The long windy road up to Waimea Canyon to see yet another amazing site of the Nepali coastline. Breathtaking!

Our wildest hiking adventure yet with adam and the dietlein crew, the tough and rough hike to my favorite waterfall yet Shangrula...it took 6-7 hours it was windy and you literally had to hold onto roots to make it through then on top of that you had to hike through 2 tunnels each about 3/4 of a mile...in the tunnels you had to wear headlights to be able to see on top of having to hunch about half of the time considering the tunnels height was about 5 1/2 feet, crazy poor Paul. Like I said the terrain was nuts I have never had so many scatches from tree branches, lesson learned wear some long sleeved shirt and some long sleeved pants for sure! At the end of the second tunnel we emerged and saw the beautiful cascading Shangrula waterfall....it was by far my favorite waterfall. There were little pockets of waterfalls surrounding us and then the mossy rocks...so serene. It felt so untouched like we were the first ones there, so beautiful. Thanks to our sturdy and strong tour guide cousin Adam we were able to make it through!

Hiking along the Nepali coastline with Todd, Britney, Beckham, Sissy and Jason. It was such a beautiful stretch...can I just say that Brittany is a super trooper with being seven months pregnant she hiked for a good strenuous 30 minutes then finally stopped...Sissy, Jason, Paul and I continued on the trail to arrive at the beach you had to hike into, it was hot, hard, but the view of the coastline was incredible. Just about a 1/4 of the mile in we saw a sign that said not to enter the water at the beach we were going to then it had a tally list of how many people had died because of the unseen rip tides and strong currents...the count was 35...crazy! We finally arrived and next thing I know I see Paul and Jason hopping in boys are crazy that is all there is to say about that. Then Paul and I went exploring a littlle bit more around the beach and we found the cave of wonders! It was hidden you had to walk along the coastline to see it but as you turned a corner you could see water rushing out....so you had to get on all fours to get through the first part of the tunnel then it opened up to this huge cave with a large opening...the view was incredible the water was crashing up against 3 large boulders, it felt like I was on some crazy movie set! Then we hiked back and snorkeled and saw some amazing parrot fish and other little fishies!

I would say up to this point in time it was the greatest adventure I have ever been on. Heavenly Father sure made this earth a beautiful place! Kauai has really helped me feel alive again, I am so greatful for the fun opportunity we had to go to this beautiful place!

Pics to come.....