San Fransisco, California

The original plan was going to San Fran for personal salvation, but since that fell through (for the time being), we just went to play. And boy, did we play! Mostly we spent the day on Pier 39--all the interesting shops, the food, the coast. You can see everything from the pier.
We shopped until we dropped! All day long! It was a blast! We even bought the oysters, cracked them open, got the pearls and made our own jewelry! It got expensive at the end, but now it is a close memory in my heart. What fun! It was gross! Mom even got a blue pearl!
We ate at the end of the Pier and had fresh sea food. Still not my favorite, but the view was impressive, to say the least. At the end of the pier, you can also see Alcatraz, the light house, and the bay where the sea lions like to bask. In fact, from where we sat in the restaurant, we even had a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance.
Well, and of course, you can't visit San Fran without seeing all of the cliche tourist sites. We hit the Golden Gate Bridge (not literally), walked down Lumbard street-the crookedest street in the world, and sat in Adam's park across from the Victorian houses. Sad, but all I could think of was Full House. What a trip! We had such a good time, even though it wasn't what we were planning, it was bonding and I loved it!

Kitties...they friends!

Tasha and Sophie, being the territorial kitties that they are, have come to a compromise. They will be best of snuggly friends and completely unperturbed by each other....until mom and dad come home! Then, it's time to wrestle, growl, kick, bite, play tag and any other annoying and disruptive behavior that they can think of, especially when it is bedtime.




But, at least, I'm glad that they are getting along better than in the beginning, and playing more than fighting....I hope that's what it is. Without one another, however, they are so compassionate. Sophie has been learning the hard way that being lazy and peeing on the bedroom floor is not acceptable, so we have been "grounding" her to the laundry room. When she's in there, of course she is not happy about it, and will actually whimper. It's more of a puppy-like sound than a meow. This draws Tasha's attention, and she will actually attempt to reach under the door to free Sophie. It's soooo cute!


I love my babies!

Our Anniversary

So, as many people enjoy their anniversaries, sharing memories and spending time together, that has been anything but us! Our anniversaries have been put on the back burner, so to speak, and half of them, we've not even been together. So this one, our 5th, by far, was the best. It was simple, and cute. A very good memory. We went to watch Hellboy II (I know many of you don't like that movie or it's predisessor, but Jason and I have a fedish for unique movies) and then came home and made a steak, for Jason of course. He is the carnivore in the family. So, being so simple, there are only two pictures, but again, remember, this was the best so far. Maybe next year will be candles and a nice place to stay overnight, but for now, this is great! And check out my man cooking in his natural enviornment!

24th of July in Mendon

The 24th of July is a holiday only celebrated in Utah, as it is officially known as Pioneer Day. Mendon had a few activities that the Leikis family took advantage of. First, there was a parade and Uncle Merlin brought up his rendition of the Beverly Hill Billies truck, at least that's what it looks like. Dad joined in to through candy to the awaiting kids.

Then, they have a refreshing water fight in the park for all of the kids (and even Uncle Jason) to cool down. At one point, they spray out some bubbly foam with the water for some interesting antics. The kids love Uncle Jason, especially when he plays with them. In this case, he got his new tshirt doused. (please pay special attention to the text on Jason's shirt, for a laugh) Taya and Triston were loving it, but Andrew kept getting cold, so we got some snuggles.




Then, pony rides....



Russ and Hilarie were able to come too. We had some dinner at the softball stands, then went back to Nana and Papa's house for fireworks.






What a fun time, and it was great to be able to spend time with everyone! Happy 24th!

Family Reunion (mom's side)

Our family is not known for our family reunions: after all, no cousins wed, we don't rent an entire ski resort, we don't even send out official reminders. But when the family on my mom's side does get together, it's a blast! My favorite part was seeing my Uncle Randy and Aunt Diane, whom I personally have not seen since at least 2002. It's been a while.


Everyone else that was there knew who I was, especially after having to refer to myself as "Lisa's youngest daughter", promptly followed by comments such as "OH! You were just a baby last time I saw you!" etc. It was a lot of fun for me though. I've heard different stories about different people and putting faces to the name helps.

The highlight for the kids (and me, I'll admit this was fun!) was when ground squirrels decided that the bbq potato chips were the thing to get at, of course skattered all over the ground by the kids. Abby had the most fun of anyone; she's scream and laugh and point everytime one would rustle out of the bushes to get some dinner.
Lastly, my cousin Kim suggested that we stay one extra morning and have breakfast at IHOP, one of their favorite dining excursions. It was fun remenising about old time, learning about other family members and I even got some stories out of mom and Randy about their mom, who died before I was born. I loved the whole trip, and it was fun to hang out with mom and Randy at the hotel afterwards. What a hoot!

I got a Job!

Great news! I am leaving Qwest! Okay, that is part of the great news. I am now officially the newest store manager for the local Motherhood Maternity clothing store! I had heard about the job from my store manager at Bath and Body Works. I went in, filled out an application and had an interview with the district manager for the area. I hadn't heard anything back from her for a couple of weeks, so I assumed that I hadn't gotten the job. I called to follow up, but was only able to leave a message. Then, out of the blue, she did call me back. She'd been flying around to Wyoming. We got another interview set up with the district manager for the north east region. That was a great interview, if I do say so myself. Jason sat on the bed the entire phone interview and encouraged me along, which I appreciated so much. Again, I didn't hear anything back from her for a while. For that time, she had been to the emergency room at the hospital! Yikes! But, she did complete the processes she needed and called me yesterday, 7/10/08 to offer me the position of store manager!!!! I had so much adrenaline pumping that I had a dull headache the rest of the day, but it was worth it! Motherhood Maternity, here I come!

4X4NROX

After not being able to spend much time together while Jason and I have both been working our two jobs each, the first opportunity we had to hang out was trucking up the mountains with some of his buddies, Dan, Daniel, Nick and Travis. It was so much fun, bouncing up and down in our truck, trying to climb rock showing the not so usual way for a truck to move and watching his buddies do the same. They climbed 3 foot tall rocks, tree limbs at a 45 degree angles and a waterfall. Trudging through snow and getting stuck in the mud was fun too. Thank goodness for seat belts. We almost made it to the summit, but came short when we hit a large area of snow just before the last bit of climb. It's July, so reaching a lot of snow tells you just how high of an altitude we had been. We walked the rest of the way, seeing the valley from a bird's eye view. We also threw rocks down a slope that would have killed anyone attempting the dare. Beautiful view, nonetheless. On the climb back down, seeing the same path with a whole new perspective (meaning looking down cliffs and steep drops. I hadn't seen that view on the way up, on the wrong side of truck. Yikes!). At the bottom of the canyon sits a beautiful and breath taking waterfall. After a long day, dragging 2 tons of metal up a mountain in the middle of the summer, a dip in the freezing cold water of a natural spring fed waterfall felt great. Then Travis decided that taking the truck in for a dip was a good idea too. Boys. What an adrenaline blast!

more 4X4N

A Kitten, our Newest Addition....

We have now added a new baby to our family, a kitten who is a tabby like Tasha, our first, but she is all gray scale. We have decided to name her Sophie. Jason found the name online using a baby naming website, most appropriate. It all started with a co-worker named Chris. Chris decided that he needed a new addition to his household, and after sharing his findings with Jason of kittens just 6 weeks old, owned by the secretary at his work place, Jason fell in kitten love. We both have an especially tender spot for kittens. They are, after all, the epitome of cuteness and we succumb easily to cute. Chris showed Jason pictures, and he just had to ask me if it was okay to adopt. My first instinct was having issues with the amount of money involved spaying and declawing a cat, then that we wouldn't be able to have another feline in our townhouse. Yet, I gave in. Well, as if I am going to say no. I have mentioned on several occasions that I am going to be the crazy lady when I'm eighty with a million kittens/cats, knowing each by name and never being able to have too many. So, I said yes. With anticipation building, I went to Wal-Mart to purchase the essentials: kitten food, a food bowl and....toys! Jason brought her home the day before the 4th of July, so we have had a 3 day weekend to enjoy her. Jason and I are the only ones enjoying her. Tasha is resistant to the change. She has had many fits of hissing, spitting and growling at the innocent cutie. Sophie is complacent about the matter. I must admit, Tasha is coming around. It's slow, and the advice on the internet was to let them take their time getting to know one another. At first, Jason was trying to make them stay within the same proximaty, but gave up on that to take the unoffensive approach. I have been sitting with the two of them, and now Tasha will allow Sophie to get within a few feet of her without becoming hysterical...a big step in the right direction. We are still trying to figure out why Tasha isn't just proving her dominance about the matter, seeing as how this is her house, after all. Only time will tell. For now, we are enjoying every minute we can with the two of them, seperate nonetheless. It also suggested on the internet that the original cat needs additional attention, and it is true. Without Sophie in a direct line of sight, Tasha is being especially snuggly and loving. I can certainly appreciate that as long as possible. Oh, and they even have matching collars. All of the above describes sisters perfectly, no?