Billeter Blog

A New Year...

2009-01-25T19:53:00.001-08:00

Okay, so it is a new year, and I am going to TRY to make a new effort! For some reason this blog has not been one of my top priorities lately. There has been so much that has happened over the past few months!

We stayed here in California for Thanksgiving. It was great! Christina invited us to her home where she prepared virtually everything! All we did was eat! Hannah and Chase had a great time with all the kids!

All through November and December, I kept extremely busy making jewelry for several boutiques, and then filling orders afterwards! I am LOVING it! It is so fun to come up with new ideas and to be able to have such a wonderful creative outlet! We aren't really making money or anything at this point... but at least we are covering our costs!

I am training for another marathon - Huntington Beach - it is next week! And then, my little sis Laura is coming out to run the LA marathon in May! Yay!

Chase has started talking (a very little) he knows a few basic words "momma - ma -ma -" , "dadda -da -da-" , "Bobba - ba", "sissa" (sister), and of course, "ball"!

Hannah has started reading and writing. She is doing very well. She sounds things out , and when she writes, she spells how the words sound... of course, most of the spellings are incorrect, but the point is that she gets the sounds! So I am thrilled!

We, as a family, continue to love it here in SoCal! I am soooo happy with the move from Utah! It really has done wonders for all of us! I am so grateful to have such a wonderful husband! Mark has been so supportive. He loves his job, and it makes me so happy to see how excited he gets about store design!

The next post is our collection of pics over the last little while!

Millions of pics!

2009-01-25T19:10:00.000-08:00

WHO am I Kidding?????

2008-10-31T20:07:00.000-07:00

BUT, SERIOUSLY! Who am I kidding? I don't REALLY have time to update this thing like I should... maybe every TWO months?????

Okay, so here are pictures of all we have been up to for the past TWO months! I cannot believe how busy life has been for me lately! This first picture is of us today at Disneyland... Then Halloween... Then me and SOME of my close friends in New York... Hannah's Birthday party at Chuckie Cheese... Some pictures at the beach...

Jewelry

2008-10-31T19:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay!! I am ready to make a post! First of all, in my defense, the below pics are PARTIALLY to blame for my lack of posting lately! Just some of the jewelry Kami and I have made recently! We have been really excited about some custom orders and boutiques we have lined up for the holidays!

And more jewelry...

The Entire Month of August!

2008-09-03T14:18:00.000-07:00

So.... I have been collecting pictures for the last MONTH! A lot has gone in during that time! We had a great girls day at Disneyland to celebrate 3 July birthdays! It was a lot of fun! My mom and sister Lisa came to visit for the first couple weeks in August, and they gave us some passes to Legoland. We went the week after they left - I say "save your money"! NOT worth it!

ALSO... My little boy turned 1 year old... ALREADY! AND... OF COURSE... my little sister Laura came home from her mission!

Here are the pics.... they are in total random order...

Hannah took this picture of Laura, Lisa, Chase and me!

Cutey Patutey

Laura and me

Another Diaper cake I made for a baby shower

Chase's birthday cupcake

Trying to EAT to cupcake!

Mark enjoying his cupcake!

Chase on the swing sporting his MESSY cupcake face

Chase got some bongo drums from mommy and daddy!

The party

I LOVE my sweet little sister! OF COURSE she wore a birthday hat!

Big sister helped open Chase's gifts!

Me and Mel

Me posing under the sign at Bubba Gumps

A few of my friends

Mom, Dad and birthday boy

Chrissi posing in front of the Bubba sign! I took a pretty terrible picture!

Kami and Erika

The birthday bunch

Me being weird... What's new?

More Jewelry

Hanny Banany

3 Kids in a car! with cousin Abby...

Chase's birthday - AGAIN!

Legoland

New York made out of legos

Chase trying to walk

Last beach day

Chase playing in a beach tent

Chase playing at Legoland

I decided to ride the ONLY fun ride at legoland! It was CRAZY!

Chase standing all by himself!

2008-07-16T13:39:00.001-07:00

We went to the beach yesterday with lots of friends. It was so much fun!

Chase completely passed out!

Hannah with her 2 BFFs collecting rocks!

Me and my favorite little girl!

We had a group birthday party for Christina, Melissa, Erika, and Lindsay:

The decorations Kami and I made for the b-day party... You can't really see in the picture, but we made bracelet's as party favors!

Here is all the jewelry Kami and I have started to make... We are hoping to start a small "business" ... we may start with an Etsy site. Look for B.F. Designz - hopefully coming soon!!!

10k

2008-07-15T08:22:00.000-07:00

I have been sooooo busy lately that I have, of course, made blogging my LAST priority!

So, this is what we have been up to lately:

I ran a 10k on the Fourth of July. I came in 3rd place in my division with a time of 48:29, I was tenth over all the women, and 37th place men and women all age groups combined.

We went to Disneyland the night before July 4th. Hannah and Chase had great seats for the parade. Chase was so excited to see all the characters go by!

I made a diaper "cake" centerpiece for my friend Tiffany's baby shower. She wasn't able to attend the shower, however, because baby Drake came a little too soon! He was three weeks early!

Hannah's Recital and Misc.

2008-06-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

Did I mention that Chrissi and Kami took me out to dinner and pinkberry, and then we went to Target, bought a scrabble game, and played it at Barnes and Noble until they closed? In addition to babysitting my children on the actual day of my birthday so that Mark and I could go out alone! And THEN they ALSO threw me a surprise PARTY??? I seriously have the GREATEST friends EVER!!

Hannah finally performed in her highly anticipated dance recital! I was just lucky that she made it on time! We were racing to get her there a half an hour as requested, but, of course, I had read the time wrong. I thought the recital began at 6:30, when really it was six! We arrived at 6:05, and I was freaking out as I rushed her into the auditorium! Luckily, her dance was not until almost the end, so we were in the clear! Imagine missing her first dance recital! She would not have been pleased.

She danced beautifully, however! Our little actress! She had the sweetest expression on her face as she gracefully performed what she remembered of the dance! She and one of the other older girls were really the only ones dancing - it was still really cute!

Chase is growing bigger day by day - one minute he's crawling, and the next he is pulling himself to standing on the furinture! Today he started climbing up the stairs - YIKES - I had better child proof the home a little better!

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-06-04T17:33:00.001-07:00

Not Again!

2008-06-04T15:24:00.000-07:00

I keep telling myself that I am going to keep updating my blog on a weekly basis, but here it is an entire month since my last posting - YET AGAIN!

A lot has happened this month... Let's see... It was the last month of preschool, and we stayed busy with some very fun field trips. Tanaka farms was one of our favorite. We got a tour of the farm and tried lots of fresh veggies, and then we were able to pick strawberries to eat! Hannah loved it. Unfortunatley, I didn't have my camera for several events, so there won't be any pics of this activity until I gather them from friends!

We went to Utah earlier this month because Mark opened the PacSun at Southtowne Mall, so we were lucky enough to spend Mother's Day with our Mothers, and also talk to little missionary sister Laura over the phone. It was a good time, and it is always great to see the family. Mom and Dad bought me some birthday gifts while we were out there... a new nail drill was among them! Thank You!!!

WE finished up the last few weeks of preschool after we came home, and then Christina organized the cutest preschool "graduation". VERY CUTE. My 28th birthday also happened this month. Mark took me out to dinner, gave me a cute skirt and top, and then he and I went to Disneyland without the kids and did all of the "adult" rides. VERY FUN!!!

June 1st was the San Diego marathon which I have been training for over the last few months. My time was 4:08, and that beat the time of 4:38 that I got for the Top Of Utah marathon in Logan 2006! I was aiming for 3:50, but I just couldn't run very fast after the first 15 miles... I should have paced better! Next time! (assuming Mark will ever allow me to run another!)

The BEST part of the month - the suprise 80's themed birthday party my friends threw for me last night! TOTALLY AWESOME! We played games and rock band and they all pitched in for a sewing machine (I have been really wanting one)!!! THANKS AGAIN GIRLS!!!!

Where's my camara when I need it?

2008-05-01T21:53:00.000-07:00

I am becoming terrible at taking pictures! Really, I need to take them more often! There have been so many fun things happening lately, and I haven't hand a camara handy to capture the moment! Luckily my good friend Christina always has hers, so hopefully I will post some of those pics soon! This is what I have! Isn't Chase adorable? And - I LOVE it when Hannah smiles for the camara!

At the Harbor

2008-04-08T14:38:00.000-07:00

Judy was in town this weekend and we went down to Dana Point Harbor to have dinner. The food was great, and the scenery was unbelieveable! Thanks Nana!

Preschool Grocery stores

2008-04-08T14:29:00.000-07:00

We put on a pretend grocery store for the kids to teach them about groery shopping and paying for groceries. It took place at the park. The kids shopped for their own lunches and purchased it with pretend money. I was the cashier!

Then... we took a field trip to the real grocery store where the manager took all the kids around the store and told them about each of the areas and isles. They got to take home some grocery items and a reusable grocery bag! It was fun for everyone!

Whale Watching

2008-04-08T13:59:00.000-07:00

We went Whale Watching for a preschool field trip a couple of weeks ago! It was a fun boat ride, but the whales didn't want to show off for us. We barely saw a whale for a brief second, and I think all of the kids missed it! it was still a great activity, though. The kids liked being on the boat and eating lunch at the little snack bar aboard.

This photo is of chase and his little friend, Annette! she is about one and a half months younger, but apparently the same size! Looks like Chase has some catching up to do, but Mom isn't too sad because he still fits into his 3-6 month clothing at 7 1/2 months!

Easter

2008-03-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness for Christina! I had 112 pictures that I had taken over the last two weeks -- preschool pics, park pics, disneyland pics, easter pics (all dressed in cute easter clothing) and the pics I took at Christina's-- I went to transfer them to my computer yesterday, and I don't know what happened to them -- they were automatially deleted from the memory stick, and I spent over three hours trying to locate them in any random file on the computer -- NO LUCK !

So... here are the pics Christina took of us at her house on Easter. They invited us over for dinnner and an easter egg hunt! We all had a blast... and Christina beat me (again) at Take Two...TWICE!

Disneyland with the Roberts!

2008-03-25T10:06:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to Disneyland with the Robert family! It was so much fun! Hannah gets along with Jaycee (5 years) and Kylee (3 almost 4 years). We LOVE their cute family and are so glad to have such wonderful friends!

Gymnastics?

2008-03-25T09:46:00.000-07:00

So... I have been trying to do gymnasics again... it has only been what? 13 or so years! Some friends and I have been attending an open gym one night a week. Here are some pics of last week!

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-03-16T14:55:00.001-07:00

Some Pictures of us dating...

2008-03-16T13:51:00.000-07:00

I found some pics of Mark and I before we got married, so I decided to scan them in at make a slide show, just for fun! I LOVE you Mark, and all you do for me and OUR family!

This blog design is in progress!

2008-03-11T00:09:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to follow Suzanne Harts blog design instructions and have been up way too late doing so, I have to finish when I have time, so I apologize for the construction!

Now it's March!

2008-03-10T22:39:00.000-07:00

Wow, time really does fly when you have two kids! I can't believe that I took Chase in for his six month visit today! I will take some pictures of him tomorrow - I haven't taken any since our trip to Sacramento a few weeks ago. We went to visit my BFG Sara and her husband Steve and daughter Ruby. These next pictures are from that trip! We had a great time catching up and hope to see them again really soon!

And...

2008-02-14T20:43:00.001-08:00

Hannah's preschool field trip to the Police Station!
Chase's messy face!

Recent Happenings

2008-02-14T20:28:00.000-08:00

Hannah's first day at ballet!

Sitting Up

2008-01-23T11:08:00.000-08:00

Chase started sitting up on his own the other day! He can only do it for a minute or so, but I think it is good. He is eating rice cereal or oatmeal once or twice a day now, and does not wake up as much at night. Hannah is busy being a good big sister. We started a reward chart when we got home from Utah after Christmas. She has been brushing her own teeth and hair twice a day, obeying Mommy and Daddy (for the most part!), picking up her toys, and trying her hardest to not say "no" when she is asked to do something.

Hannah's reward for getting enough stars this week is to sign up for ballet lessons at the local studio. She is very excited. Her friend Jaycee will be in the same class!

Chase got a Jumperoo! He loves to get his "exercise"!

Chase at 4 months!

2008-01-06T21:06:00.000-08:00

Blessing Baby

2008-01-06T20:58:00.000-08:00

We blessed Chase at Judy's home on Sunday, December 30, 2007.

2008-01-06T20:49:00.000-08:00

I guess we had so much going on while we were in Utah that we neglected to take many pictures. We only have a few on Christmas morning... I hope our parents collected some for us! Hannah showing some sass!
Hannah's favorite santa gift - she plays with it all the time!
Sweet girl - all bundled up

Snowboarding in Utah

2008-01-06T20:37:00.000-08:00

We took Hannah snowboarding while we were in Utah. Mark had taken her a little last season, but this year she was really doing well. She is so fearless - I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing - but in this case it was good. She did everything her daddy asked!Hannah all ready for the slopes!
Walking to the bus ... she was telling Mommy how to correctly carry a snowboard!
Up the lift ... AGAIN... she didn't want to leave!
Live Action Shot!

2008-01-06T20:14:00.000-08:00

Well, December flew by without any blog entries, so here are some pictures taken before we went to Utah for Christmas.... Hannah and Chase fell asleep on the couch!! Aren't they adorable siblings?
The preschool nativity - Hannah didn't want to be the sheep, so I filled in.
Then they switched roles and let her play Mary!

December already!

2007-12-03T19:47:00.000-08:00

2007-12-03T19:42:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that it is already December! Time has gone by so quickly! Here are just a few fun things we have been up to lately.

2007-11-21T09:59:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Already?

2007-11-21T09:18:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is tomorrow! Time has gone by so quickly since Chase was born. He is exactly 12 weeks old today. Some of the things he is doing.... holding his head up really well, looking all around him, smiling, rolling over from his tummy to his back, and swatting at toys in front of him. He is doing really well at night, but he still wakes up to eat three or four times - at least he goes right back to sleep, though. He stays awake a little bit too much during the day! He also still wants to be held, but he is getting a little bit better about spending time in the swing or the bouncer so that Mommy can get a few things done!

Update on Hannah.... She is having a great time making new friends. She has been to several birthday parties and had quite a few playdates since we have moved here. We have been working with the alphabet together, and she can write most of her letters, and recognizes all of them when you point to them and ask her what letters they are. She also knows what sounds most of them make. Her favorite thing to play with her friends is dress-up (of course). She also enjoys playing soccer with her daddy.

Harvest Festival

2007-11-06T14:24:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, our community held a harvest festival. There were many fun activities for the kids to participate in. They had a bounce house, pony rides, a petting zoo, face painting, and pumpkin decorating, to name a few. Of course, the pony rides were Hannah's favorite! Chase just had fun chillin' out! The picture of Hannah and Chase together was taken this morning before I walked Hannah to Pre-School. She just looked so cute, I had to have a photo!

Some Random Pictures

2007-11-02T16:23:00.000-07:00

Here are some random pictures! Hannah playing peek-a-boo covering Chase's eye, Hannah's cute smile, and a picture of Chase and Mommy at Grandpa and Grandma's house.

Natalie's Visit

2007-11-02T16:09:00.000-07:00

Our good friend Natalie came to visit last week before we flew to Utah. She was on her way to San Diego and stopped by to see our home. We went to the beach, but the air wasn't very good because of the fires, so we didn't stay long!

It Has Been A While!

2007-11-02T15:53:00.000-07:00

I know it has been a couple of weeks sine my last post. We have been super busy. Grandma Wolfe past away last week, and Chase and I went to Portland for the memorial service. Hannah stayed with Nana in Utah, and we went back to Utah to pick her up and go trick-or-treating at Grandma and Grandpa's with Aunt Lisa!

2007-10-15T16:36:00.000-07:00

Chase at 6 weeks old!

Hannah went on a pre-school field trip to the firefighter training facility !

Hannah loves playing with her new friends! (Play date with Jaycee!)

Goin' to the Park

2007-10-15T16:29:00.000-07:00

Only in California!

2007-10-08T14:52:00.000-07:00

Only in California would we have such great weather in the second week of October! We went swimming today, and it definately felt like pool weather. It was absolutely perfect!

Five Weeks Old

2007-10-05T13:20:00.000-07:00

Chase was five weeks old on Wednesday. It is amazing how quickly he has grown and changed.

It is great that Hannah wants to help out so much with the baby; however, she can be quite agressive!

Hannah Loves Preschool

2007-10-05T07:41:00.000-07:00

Hannah with her preschool friends! They went on a field trip to the library yesterday, and Hannah loved it! She got a full tour of the library, sat in for story time, and even got to check out her own book.

Chase and Mommy

2007-09-30T19:20:00.000-07:00

Chase is 1 month old!

2007-09-28T13:40:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th Birthday Hannah!! 9/26/2007

2007-09-28T12:29:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was Hannah's 4th birthday! Nana and Michelle were here with us to celebrate. We took Hannah to Disneyland where she showed them her favorite rides. Then we had lunch at Ariel's Grotto and met all of Hannah's favorite Disney Princesses. After that, we saw the Aladin show.

Next, we headed home to open presents and have birthday cake! She loved all of her gifts! Thank you everyone! A few of her favorite presents: the special Alice & Wonderland doll from Aunt Michelle, the princess activity kit from Grandma and Grandpa, the horse books from Aunt Kris, and the Belle dress from Mommy and Daddy!

2007-09-28T12:18:00.000-07:00

2007-09-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

In early July, we went to the Wild Animal Park near San Diego with the Ford family. It was so fun to see everyone. Hannah had a great time playing with William and Jake.

We also met them in San Diego later that week. We had a great time at the beach, and afterwards, they treated the whole family to a Padres game! Thank you Fords!

2007-09-25T17:53:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of other activities this summer. Hannah with her friend Maddy; at the princess dinner for Aunt Lisa's birthday; on the Newport Beach pier for dinner; and Hannah at the beach.

2007-09-25T17:37:00.000-07:00

In early August, we met Kris down in San Diego and went to the zoo. It was a neat experience.

2007-09-25T17:30:00.000-07:00

2007-09-25T16:46:00.000-07:00

Today was Hannah's first day of preschool. I have been trying to get her into something since we moved out here. There are so many kids in our town!! All of the public preschools had waiting lists a mile long, and the private schools cost WAY too much. SO, I decided to join a co-op preschool. I only have to teach twice a month, so I think it will work out well. It is structured really well, and the curriculum is based on that of the local school district.

Hannah's birthday is tomorrow, and Judy and Michelle are flying to town to celebrate with her. We are going to the "princess lunch" and to Disneyland. She is very excited to turn 4 years old.

She is becoming such a bright, independent child. Yesterday at the park, she went across the monkey bars all by herself. She was so happy that she did it over and over again and insisted that I take a picture!

Chase's Birthday! August 29th, 2007

2007-09-24T18:39:00.000-07:00

Here we are at the hospital the day that Chase was born. Hannah didn't really know what to think the first time she saw him!

Quick Update!

2007-09-24T08:27:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!! I am hoping that this blog will help us to stay in better contact with everyone. Now that we are living in California, it is more difficult to stay in touch.

First of all, I would like to give a quick update on everything that has been going on in our busy lives over the last few months. In May, Mark took a new job as Store Designer with PacSun corporate offices located in Anahiem, CA. He moved out to California while Hannah and I stayed back in Utah for a few weeks to tie up loose ends.

We sold our home fairly quickly and the entire family moved to CA in the second week of June. We stayed in an apartment until we completed the purchase of our new home. On July 20, we moved into our house located in Ladera Ranch (about 30 minutes south of Anahiem). Mark, Hannah and I love the area and the neighborhood!

About a month later, we welcomed Chase Bud Billeter into our family. He was born August 29, 2007. He weighed 7 lbs. 6 oz. , and was19 in. long. We are all absolutely in love with him. Hannah is enjoying her big sister status, and Mark and I are adjusting to having two children!