HOLY CRAP THIS IS COOL!

My friend sent me this in an email so i'm just going to copy it in here....it's great!

Suddenly the shoreline north of Sydney were transformed into the Cappuccino Coast. Foam swallowed an entire beach and half the nearby buildings, including the local lifeguards' centre, in a freak display of nature at Yamba in New South Wales. One minute a group of teenage surfers were waiting to catch a wave, the next they were swallowed up in a giant bubble bath. The foam was so light that they could puff it out of their hands and watch it float away.

It stretched for 30 miles out into the Pacific in a phenomenon not seen at the beach for more than three decades. Scientists explain that the foam is created by impurities in the ocean, such as salts, chemicals, dead plants, decomposed fish and excretions from seaweed. All are churned up together by powerful currents which cause the water to form bubbles. These bubbles stick to each other as they are carried below the surface by the current towards the shore. As a wave starts to form on the surface, the motion of the water causes the bubbles to swirl upwards and, massed together, they become foam.

The foam 'surfs' towards shore until the wave 'crashes', tossing the foam into the air. Whitewash: The foam was so thick it came all the way up to the surf club 'It's the same effect you get when you whip up a milk shake in a blender,' explains a marine expert. 'The more powerful the swirl, the more foam you create on the surface and the lighter it becomes.' In this case, storms off the New South Wales Coast and further north off Queensland had created a huge disturbance in the ocean, hitting a stretch of water where there was a particularly high amount of the substances which form into bubbles.

Boy in the bubble bath: Tom Woods, 12, emerges from the clouds of foam after deciding that surfing was not an option

As for 12-year-old beachgoer Tom Woods, who has been surfing since he was two, riding a wave was out of the question. 'Me and my mates just spent the afternoon leaping about in that stuff,' he said. 'It was quite cool to touch and it was really weird. It was like clouds of air - you could hardly feel it.'

Children play among all the foam which was been whipped up by cyclonic conditions

Moving

Just a heads up....I started writing this on Dec. 19th and finished Jan. 5th....yeah

Ok so for the past couple weeks we have been moving our stuff from storage and into our new place...it's been pretty nice to move things in and get them all settled and organized, by the time we actually start living there, it will be like we have been there forever which is pretty cool. I swear though, next time we are getting movers. Doesn't everyone say that when they move? Seriously though we are going to next time. Each time we move we get into a bigger place, get more stuff...yadda yadda yadda....I feel like we get rid of tons of stuff before we move though so I always think...oh it wont be so bad...and this time it really has been easier, i just dont like having to make a million trips to the storage unit across town...oh did i mention we havent gotten a truck? We havent. I think we have gotten about everything possible that we can fit into our car and Dan's dad's little truck and we just have the big stuff which we were planning on moving this weekend, but its raining cats and dogs. Are you freaking kidding me? We have had the keys for nearly a month and we still arent moved in yet. It's really ok, just the longest move in in history. I'm going to be so glad to finally be settled....whenever that happens.

Mean Green Machine

Peas! Peas! Peas! Peas! Eating Goober Peas! Goodness how delicious! Eating Goober Peas! My brother and I use to sing that silly song when we were little and it so works for our little goober...I mean bella girl.

Ok so Bella as dainty as we thought she was has taken a turn. The other day she grabbed the spoon from me again and was pretty much done so I decided she was having a grand old time anyway, and I hadnt eaten dinner yet so I let her play with her food....the following body painting ensued....

Homeless No More!

WE JUST GOT THE KEYS TO OUR NEW TOWNHOME!!!!!!!!! Ok so it's not really ours, we are renting, but still! HOORAY!!! We got a great deal also, there have been a lot of upgrades made to the place and it is really cute. I'll get some pix up when we move all of our stuff in. Our rent is only $1650 a month which is a freaking steal! We have been living with Dan's parents in San Jose for the past 2.75 months trying to find a place to land...Dan has been commuting to Concord every day....it's about an hour-ish which compared to our commutes in the OC is not bad at all...at least he is constantly moving ya know? Anyway, the location is great, it's really close to the practice, Dan can even walk there if he wants to. We were going to have to buy another car if we were further away from the practice...no bueno! So now we can save money for a car and a house....we are hoping the market continues on its current course and the price of housing continues to drop in the area so we can get into something great within a year or so.

Snow for Christmas

We are going to my brothers wedding in Logan Utah the weekend before Christmas....does that seem like a good time to get married to anyone else? :) I can totally see how it would be for them because they are students and they will have a nice long honeymoon before school starts again. :) It's just going to be tricky. I just wish that we didnt have to travel with everyone else and their mother. I really am very excited! From what I have heard it has been snowing like mad and they are expecting a whole lot more. We'll see how we survive! Usually towns that are use to snow handle it better....unlike Tehachapi that closes down when the wind blows....literally. My biggest concern is keeping Bella warm....I've gotten some baby uggs and a thick coat and hat and gloves for her and everything. We have been in California for so long, I'm affraid of weather that is under 50 degrees! What a wimp! I'm sure we'll manage somehow...but just in case we are frozen in a block of ice and no one finds us for a few thousand years...it was nice knowing you! :)

First Christmas Present

My mom sent Bella a Christmas sweater in the mail and it was all wrapped up so cute...I handed it to bella and she was like....you're handing me paper??? FOR REAL???!!!! She was so excited.....

HOORAY!!!!!!!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOOK!!! PAPER!!!!

What? More??

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

OOOH Pretty!

:)

PERFECT FIT!!!!!!!!!

My mom has been saving this sweater for a year...good thing she sent it when she did, it's perfect. GOOD JOB GRAMMA!!!!

I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good

Ok so I gave Bella some cubes of butternut squash for lunch and she really didnt care for it much. I tricked her into eating a few chunks and then she was done with me and wanted to feed herself. So I was watching her eat and right before she got the chunk to her open mouth she would drop it in her lap and then pretend to eat and make the yummy sounds and everything. Meanwhile the other hand was hard at work mashing up the rest of the squished squash and storing it to the back of her head. I'm not even kidding. Is this normal? Do kids do this a lot? Because really every day shes coming up with something new. At least now she is letting me dig out the pieces of paper and whatever else she puts into her mouth and even shows me some of them before she tries to put them in so I know when she is up to something.

mischief managed

Ward Christmas Party

Last Saturday was the ward Christmas party and it was a lot of fun! We set up before the party and had a jolly good time with everyone. Its so nice to be in a big ward again. We are still in Dan's parents ward and I think everyone thinks we are in the ward for good....oh well! :) Its pretty fun, there are a lot of us with babies under 1 year old...at least 7 of us so the mothers lounge is always crowded. There is a play group that meets every Tuesday and Wednesday and we are planning a trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium...that place is SO AWESOME! Anyway! Back to the party....

Wow, my timing was off on this one. SHE IS SUCH A HAM NOW!!! When she sees the little red eye light flashing she hams it up big time and cheezes for the camera! She cracks me up!

Party Pooper!!! Who is that cute guy???

Ok this isnt a great pix of my friend Allie, but this is Bella's friend Claire and her Family. Bella and Claire are a month apart and they like to steal each others toys. There is one toy in particular of Claires that Bella loves and she steals it every week at church. Claire then pulls Bellas hair and since Claire cant crawl yet, Bella pushes her over, takes all her toys and bolts. We are working on this problem. but we all laugh anyway! :)

oh my gosh, this group of guys got up on stage and performed, they were HORRIBLE. And when I say horrible, I mean I wanted to cut my ears off they were so bad. They kept starting on the wrong keys and oh man they were ALL off key and they kept starting over and over and it just kept getting worse. The sad part is that they are pros and they thought they were good. Someone should let them know before they go on american idol with everyone else that thinks they can sing.

CHEESE!!!!! Bella loves her daddy, its really cute to see, for a while she would push him away whenever he tried to hug her or kiss her and for the first few months dan thought she hated him. Poor guy! No worries now!

Now for my favorite part of the night....

SANTA!

Claire didnt last long on Santa's lap...probably a whole 5 seconds. The funny thing is that ALL the partents brought their babies up at the end and ALL the babies SCREAMED at the poor guy. Just like in the movie a Christmas story...but I think if I saw that Santa I would scream for my mommy too! You have to have a pix of yourself crying on santas lap at least once in your life.

Ok so far so good

ok...guy with a beard...that's wierd...i think i can, i think i can

HOLY CRAP!!!

Bella made it through the night, and hopefully will get over her santa complex in the next few years.

Self Feeding

THANK YOU!!!! About a week ago Bella decided she didnt want me to feed her anymore. I was beginning to worry because she wouldnt eat very much and then steal the spoon from me. I thought maybe that she didnt like the food I was making her anymore or something so I just let her play with the spoon or the food and then I would bottle feed her or nurse her. Then I realized, DUH she wants to feed herself.....so I started giving her little bits of banana which didnt work very well because it got everywhere. And every other time we tried letting her eat on her own she would choke on something so I was totally freaked out by this. Don't worry, she is a pro now! I've given her lots of new things and she really doesnt care what she eats as long as she gets to feed herself. Seriously I'll try and put something in her mouth and she pushes my hand away, looks at whatever I have and then grabs it and puts it in her mouth herself. It's really kind of cute. OH my, I have given her some cheerios (which i'm not doing anymore because they have a lot of salt...anyway) she pinches the cheerio and nibbles it and finally after about 6 bites she is done. Shes so dainty! it's adorable. We ran into someone at Baja Fresh that had a little boy a month younger and 2x bigger than bella and his mommy told me about these gerber graduates puffy crunchy things. They are mostly made of fruit and veggies and wheat, but they are great, they dissolve in your mouth and most importantly Bella loves them. I can actually have a warm meal and everyone is happy. OH HAPPY DAY!!!

Bag of Tricks

Tonight at the dinner table right after we started to say the blessing on the food, Bella realized what we were doing and folded her chubby little arms. It was so cute! I have been trying to get her to do it for a while now and usually she just sits there quietly and stares at everyone wondering what the heck we are doing. She has been so perceptive lately. Last night we were playing around and I tilted my head back and laughed and she copied me a few times. She did it w
hile she was standing up and fell straight back! lol poor thing. We have been trying to get her to blink on command, she will do it randomly when she is playing and loses her balance. It looks like she has something in her eyes and she still wont do it when you say, "blink!" but we're working on it.

Another thing I have been trying to work on is baby sign language. I know a lot of signs and I use them with her but I dont think she is getting it yet. Maybe she is and my timing is off or something anyway, i'm going to try and take pix of her new tricks in action tomorrow.

OH YEAH!!! Biggest and best trick, she is starting to walk! She will stand by herself for a while and kind of wabble towards me or something she is close to. She tries to bend over and pick something up off the ground while she is standing and then totally eats it! She also walks from one piece of furniture to another if they are only like 2 feet apart....she will walk around things and she took 3 steps from nonna to me a few days ago. She also tries to dance! We sing and dance all the time and she thinks its so funny. WHAT A HOOT!