Zaugg World

Moving, Moving, Moving

2011-11-30T09:31:00.001-07:00

So, another winter, another move. It has actually been three years since our last Jan. move, so I guess I shouldn't be complaining, right? For those who haven't heard, we are moving to Walla Walla, Wa in a few weeks. Darren's company here in Idaho decided to move their office after being in the same location for about 30 years, so since we had to move anyway, Darren decided to look for a new job. We are looking forward to this new exciting adventure, but we will greatly miss our life here in Pocatello.

Twins' Special Day

2011-10-17T16:28:00.000-06:00

Alyssa and Emma got baptized this month! It was a great experience us and we were grateful for our family that traveled so far to be with the twins on this day. I can't believe they are getting so old!

Yellowstone

2011-09-06T17:13:00.001-06:00

We went on a fun adventure to Yellowstone the last weekend of the summer. We decided to camp in Yellowstone itself and it was great. (Of course, there was a hiker killed by a bear the night before we stayed there, but we didn't see any bears.) Our campsite was right on Yellowstone Lake and it was so peaceful and beautiful!

Fourth of July!

2011-07-06T08:51:00.007-06:00

We are starting some fun traditions for the 4th. We went down to Provo to spend time with Matt and JaNae's family and to enjoy the festivities there. Some saw the Stadium of Fire, some ran in the Freedom Run 5K, all watched the parade and spent fun times playing. We also saw Derek and Sonja's family which is always great. Christiana joined me for the 5K this year, and she did awesome! We ran just over a 12 min. mile and Christiana was 46th out of 107 girls in her age group (I was 80th out of 159). I was really proud of her--she had only ran about 4 times to prepare, but she really did great. What a fun weekend!

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T15:28:00.004-06:00

For the last two mother's days, my siblings and father have been meeting at my mom's grave to celebrate our mom and her impact on our lives. It is a great time for me to be able to talk about my mom and how much she means to me. This year my dad brought an album of pictures of my mom that my kids looked at while we were there. It was good for them to see different pictures of her from when she was a teenager and young mother. It is sad for me that my kids have no memories of my mom. She is such a huge part of who I am, I wish that they had the chance to see that and know her.

Graduation!!

2011-05-09T14:50:00.006-06:00

Darren participated in the graduation ceremony for his MBA this last weekend. It was fun to share this accomplishment with him and some of our family. We are so proud of Darren!!

Lack of Posting, Not Lack of Things to Post About

2010-12-09T14:23:00.007-07:00

So I was looking back at my blogging history, and I realized that I never really blog much in the fall. Which is really too bad, because half of the birthdays in our family and a lot of fun holidays happen in the fall. I take pictures and enjoy all of these things, but they just don't make it onto the blog. I enjoy reading and looking at my friends' blogs, and think, "I should post about things like that", but it just never happens.

So this fall has been great! We have had fun with school, dance, piano, soccer, preschool, Halloween, cheer and tumbling, Thanksgiving, family visits, painting, Nutcracker rehearsals, fishing, volunteering at the school, stitches (twice on the same kid), snowman building, birthdays, and graduating (with an MBA, no less! Way to go Darren!!). Life is good.

First day of school

Christiana doing what she loves to do

Alyssa and Emma with their double 7 B-day cake

Yeah, Julia is a mermaid superhero

2nd Annual Y Hike

2010-08-16T21:39:00.004-06:00

The older girls and I got up early on the 24th of July to hike up to the Y in Provo. We actually woke up late (we were supposed to leave at 6 am, but ended up going about 6:45), so we didn't get to go with all the cousins, but we saw them as they were coming down and we were going up. This hike is not for the faint-hearted (which, unfortunately, I am). Sally was kind enough to hike the last bit again to the top, so we had her company as we went back down. It is a fun tradition though, and hopefully next year Darren and Julia will be able to be with us!

Showing their exhaustion

Success!! We are all showing our "Y"s

California!!

2010-07-07T16:29:00.006-06:00

We took our summer vacation to California in June and went to Disneyland and the beach. It was a lot of fun. We went on rides,

watched Princesses,

LOOKED at souvenirs,

and even got to be in a parade down Main Street!

Then we went to the beach and had a blast building sand castles and jumping in the waves. What a fun trip!!

Swim Lessons

2010-07-07T16:16:00.005-06:00

We decided this is the summer that the twins are going to learn how to swim, so we have been doing swim lessons once a week and going swimming as a family once a week. It has been fun to see their confidence grow in the water--even Julia is making progress.

I bought these swim suits to cut down on my sunscreening time and I have loved them!! We also get complements everywhere we go on how cute they all look.

Of course, we needed goggles for everyone, and Darren and Julia were kind enough to model them for us.

Storytime

2010-07-07T16:11:00.002-06:00

This is a familiar scene that we have each night as Darren reads to the girls before bed. They all want to be as close as possible and share time with him. And he is good-natured enough to be a jungle gym/couch/pillow for them.

Camping!!

2010-07-07T15:59:00.004-06:00

We decided to try out Darren's scouting skills that he has been honing through camping every month with the Deacons, and went camping overnight. (Above is a picture of what Darren brought home from his last adventure). It was a lot of fun--even though it was freezing and rainy. We had the girls in long sleeved shirts, jackets, and coats, and they were barely cold. But we were happy to see that our tent did not leak when it rained for four hours in the night. We found that hot chocolate makes all the difference on a cold morning!

Busy Month

2010-05-17T10:05:00.004-06:00

May is always a crazy month around our house. So far this month has been the same, if not worse. Christiana has been busy with an award ceremony, piano recital, rehearsals and performances of Swan Lake, and a dance recital coming up this weekend. The twins were in the Missoula Children's Theater production this last weekend, field trips, kindergarten graduation and a dance recital this weekend. Luckily, Julia has just been along for the ride. I am grateful for the opportunities my kids have. They get to participate in some really great things. It does make for a busy mom, though.

Christiana w/ Opa Wright

Emma showing her normal enthusiasm

Alyssa is the blue knight in the center (w/mustache!)

Christiana after her performance in Swan Lake

Spring Break!!

2010-03-25T16:46:00.006-06:00

(Can you tell who is who?)

For spring break this year, we went to St. George to enjoy some warmer weather and visit with some family. We had a great time. It was nice to not have to wear long sleeves and to see a beautiful blue sky. And of course we enjoyed shopping at the outlets. Here is a cute picture of the girls in their Easter outfits (a little early, I know.)

We also went hiking up in Snow Canyon. It was fun to have our girls old enough to enjoy that kind of thing. It was very windy, as you can tell.

To cap off the trip, Emma got her ears pierced. Alyssa got hers pierced about six months ago, but Emma wasn't ready. Then she decided she wanted to do it for Christiana's birthday (which was last week). She is such a sweetie!!

We had a great vacation!

Fun Friends

2010-02-24T12:13:00.002-07:00

It has been so fun to watch my girls growing up. They have such fun personalities and make everyone around them smile. (Christiana isn't in the picture because she is always at school, but she is included in my comment as a big part of the fun.) My girls rarely want to play with other friends, because they have too much fun at home with each other. I am so grateful that they get along so well and want to spend time together. Now if Julia would just stop hitting them, everything would be great!!! (We're hoping it is a phase.)

Update

2010-01-08T09:25:00.004-07:00

I have had a problem with fuzzy pictures lately. I have taken pictures of the girls at so many fun things, but they are all too blurry to post. So I will post a couple even though they are blurry.

Christiana participated in a Geography Bee at school yesterday. (She is the second from the right in the picture) She was one of 8 children to participate. She qualified by winning the contest in her class. I was so proud of her for being brave enough to be up in front of almost the whole school (grades 3-6) and try to answer very difficult questions. Out of the 21 questions that were asked, only 3 were answered correctly. It made for a quick competition, because none of the kids could answer the questions. She was competitng against 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. Even though she didn't win, I hope she will be able to participate again next year.

Here is sweet Julia. She is getting bigger everyday. Her hair is still curly and is now most of the way down her back. Her vocabulary is amazing for a 3 year old--she sounds more like her 6 year old sisters than her 3 year old friends. But that is probably because she spends 95% of her time with her 6 year old sisters and doesn't have any 3 year old friends.

First day of Kindergarten

2009-09-20T19:22:00.008-06:00

The twins were so excited to start school this year. Since they will be 6 the first part of October, they were more than ready to be learning. It has been fun to see them grow and get along with their 23 new friends. I am glad they are in the same class. They are a great support to each other, but also able to branch out on their own. They are such sweet friends.

Happy Birthday Julia!!

2009-09-20T19:05:00.013-06:00

Our baby turned three this last week. It has actually been an exciting thing. I wondered if I would feel sad with the passing of babyhood in our family, but right now I am happy and excited for the new phase of our family life. Julia has been potty trained this last month (our first child before the age of three), so that will be adding some money back into our budget. She also started a dance and tumbling class, that is just about the cutest thing ever. Her teacher gives all of the little girls in the class wands to walk around with. I'm not sure of the purpose, but the girls love it. Since the twins started kindergarten, Julia and I have had a little bit of time together after naps before they come home. It has been fun to be able to focus on her a little more.

Sunday Best

2009-09-20T18:49:00.008-06:00

We stopped by the Mt. Timpanogos temple grounds in August to take some family pictures.

Summer fun

2009-07-14T17:16:00.005-06:00

Dallas

We went to Dallas in June and to Provo for the 4th of July. We had a good time seeing family and exploring different parts of the country. (We drove to Dallas) We also tried camping in our backyard. That was a lot of fun--except that none of the girls could sleep so we ended up inside at 11:00 p.m. But we did have fun putting up our huge tent and playing games until it got dark. (I can't get my camping pictures off the other computer, so I will add them later.) Fun times!!!

Provo

New bed

2009-07-14T16:16:00.005-06:00

Our neighbor was having a garage sale last weekend, and as I was taking the girls to the movie theater I saw this cute toddler bed for $7. I have been so excited since we got it. Julia wakes up every morning and says, "I love my new bed!"

Welcome Spring!!

2009-03-23T16:03:00.003-06:00

We had such beautiful weather last week. On Saturday it was 65 degrees and we cleaned out all of our flower beds and were getting ready for Spring. Then on Sunday the temperature plummeted and we awoke to a winter wonderland this morning. I hope the tulips that were coming up survive!

Christiana's Birthday

2009-03-23T15:38:00.003-06:00

Christiana had a fun birthday. We went roller skating as a family. It had been about 15-20 years since Darren and I had been on skates, but I guess skating is like riding a bike. We even let Julia and the twins try it. By the end the twins were doing pretty well.

Sick Kids

2009-03-11T09:21:00.004-06:00

Misery personified

I really hate when my kids are sick. We had been so lucky not to get sick all winter, and then two weeks ago BAM!!! All four girls have been sick at the same time. It is so hard to see them miserable. I am so worn out with late night coughing, high temperature fevers, and emotional sick girls. We've never had all four sick at the same time before, and I hope NEVER AGAIN!!

Julia is still trying to look happy

New House Pictures

2009-03-11T08:55:00.004-06:00

I'm finally getting some more pictures on here of our great new house. It is so nice to finally be settled again. My favorite part of our new house is that Christiana can walk to school with her best friend--we are six houses away from the school! (Our church is also next door to the school) I guess that is more location than house that I love there. But I love everything about our house and am so grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who truly knows each one of us and our needs. We are blessed.

Moving in January

2009-01-02T19:32:00.007-07:00

So you would think after having experienced the nightmare that is moving in January three times we would have learned our lesson--apparently not. On Christmas Eve we put an offer on a house that was countered and accepted that same evening. Now we are facing the excitement of moving heavy furniture through feet of snow and still trying to somehow keep the carpets clean. Of course, we still are working on financing and appraisals and such, but if all goes well we should be moving before the end of January. Timing aside, we are so EXCITED!!!!!!

Are they.....twins??

2008-11-10T10:48:00.003-07:00

Okay, so when I found out that I was having twins, and that they were girls, I was so worried that they wouldn't be able to have their own identity. I thought that everyone would just see them as a package deal and not as individuals. I was so relieved when we found out they were not identical. I thought that now they had the chance to be their own person. I have to laugh at myself now because I am so frustrated when people don't even realize they ARE twins. At least two or three times a week as we are at stores or the library someone will look at them and say hesitantly, "Are they...um...are they twins??" I can't blame them because Emma is taller, but it makes me so sad that they don't automatically have that identity of twins. Not everyone gets to have a twin and have that unique relationship, and I want my twins to be able to have that identity. Am I crazy, or what? I have been toying with dressing them the same to make their relationship more obvious,, but that would involve a new wardrobe because they are wearing Ana's hand-me-downs. I know that it doesn't matter AT ALL if people see them as twins or not, but it has really been bothering me lately that people can't tell. What do you think?

Halloween

2008-11-10T10:38:00.004-07:00

We had a great Halloween this year. We had a ward carnival, a school parade, and preschool and class parties to celebrate. Darren and I even got into the spirit with costumes. The only downside is that we only had one person come trick or treating at our house, so I was bored while Darren took the girls out. But this was the first Halloween since Ana has been trick or treating that it has not been freezing cold, so that was nice.

Fun pictures!

2008-09-15T18:48:00.010-06:00

The girls showing their best smiles

Twins at their 1st soccer game-they both scored goals (only Emma's counted, Alyssa's was after the ball went out of bounds, but we let Alyssa still enjoy her moment)

The Zauggs and cousins victorious after tackling "Y" mountain-- I never knew the Y was so rocky!

Julia loves her "Roni and Belle" (we have tried to correct her, but to no avail--she continues to call Cinderella Belle) Her hair is still so curly!!

Christiana being goofy(and cute), as usual

Young Love

2008-09-11T13:18:00.003-06:00

September is a month for celebrations for Darren and I. Our wedding anniversary is on September 5th. Our first date aniversary is on September 10th. It has been 15 years since Darren and I went on our first date together. That seems like a long time to me. As I have been thinking about our relationship and its development over the last 15 years, I am amazed at how blessed I have been to have Darren in my life. It is not every couple that has to go half way around the world to find each other, but I couldn't have found someone better suited to me than Darren. We have so much fun together! He is the best part of my life.

10K!!

2008-07-08T14:47:00.005-06:00

Before the race:

Darren and I finally ran our 10K at the Freedom Festival in Provo on the 4th of July. We trained for this race for months last year, only to get the stomach flu on July 3rd. This year we started training in March and were finally able to run. I can't say that I enjoyed the race, but I am glad that we did it and that I accomplished my goal of running a 10K. Our goal was to run the race in 1hr 10 mins and we actually ran it in 1hr 3 mins-which was a 9:56 min. mile. We were pretty proud of that! I think from now on, we will stick to 5Ks.

After the race:

Sisters

2008-06-26T15:20:00.006-06:00

I have been having so much fun lately watching my girls interact. They are such fun sisters! They have such great imaginations and love to talk and talk and talk! We live in a constant state of girls night out--watching movies, doing hair, dressing up, singing and dancing to music. Whenever I turn on classical music, the breakfast table becomes a symphony with Emma playing the violin, Christiana playing the piccolo, Alyssa playing the clarinet, and Julia playing the drums. Then they start dancing around like ballerinas. People ask me all the time if I am going to try to have a boy, or if I wish I had a boy. Never. I wouldn't trade my girls for the world.

New Swing Set

2008-06-26T15:12:00.004-06:00

Darren and I spent about three weeks putting this bad boy together to give the girls something to do this summer. It was a great bonding time for me and Darren. They have had a lot of fun on it. The greatest part is having a swinging spot for everyone.

Happy Birthday Christiana!!

2008-03-27T16:29:00.004-06:00

We had a great pony party for Christiana's birthday, and all we have to show for it is this picture. We had two hours , four friends, a pinata, presents, a pony treasure hunt, a girl-created horse mural, and the only picture we took was this?? We struggle. It was fun for Ana, though. For those who don't know, Christiana is the one on the right.

Princess

2008-03-27T16:21:00.004-06:00

Julia has gotten into dress-ups lately and is not happy unless she has on a skirt, ten necklaces, and/or a crown. Luckily, with four girls none of those are in short supply.

New Hobby

2008-03-27T16:11:00.006-06:00

Darren has developed a new hobby while we have been driving to see family in Utah/Idaho--taking pictures of mountains. I don't know if this is just because of the mountain-withdrawl that he experienced in Iowa or what. But he has gotten some nice shots.

Moving--

2008-01-18T19:24:00.001-07:00

I still can't believe we just moved half way across the country again! I wanted to put all kinds of pictures on here of our new house (well, twin house really) and some recent pictures of the girls to show how much they have grown, but I know if I wait for those pictures to happen, our blog may just never get updated.

Reality is setting in, however. Now that things are mostly put away and we are getting into somewhat of a routine, I have time to catch my breath and think--what did we just do!! Don't get me wrong--I am very excited to be back in the West and closer to family. But I don't think all the ramifications of moving 1,300 miles away from the life we had been living for the last three years was fully processed. Maybe it is better that way sometimes. If I had to dwell on all of the great friends I left behind and how I will miss them, I don't think I would be getting up in the mornings. Fortunately, I am an optimist by nature, and so I think not about the friendships lost, but about the wonderful blessing all of those friends were in my life and how they have made me a better person. Of course I look forward to continuing those friendships for years to come.

Trip to Chicago

2007-11-08T11:22:00.000-07:00

The beautiful view from our hotel room

The girls and I had fun at the Shedd Aquarium.

2007-11-08T09:06:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween! Here are our sweet girls at a Halloween party. They are all getting so big.