lately

A self-portrait with eyelashes. EYELASHES.

Hot chocolate gone wrong.

"Frozen" songs on YouTube are pretty awesome

They were hugging right before I grabbed the camera. Picture it... it's cuter than you're thinking.

sponge curlers

The result was a loose wave, but hey! We tried!

chevvvvvron

Grandma Joyce's Christmas jammies are a HIT for both young and old.

But when we all sit together, it starts to make Doug dizzy. The sacrifices we make for a pattern I love.

the head cock

Grace copies 90% of what Addy does, including cocking her head for pictures. Sometimes to the point of leaning over completely.

Phase 1

Phase 2

Phaaaase 3

Oh, and this rabid bunny picture has been killing Doug and I. Absolutely killing us!

welcome to the future!

So here we are in private land. Let the top-secret, controversial posts begin!

Just kidding, everybody. Fear not.

I'll show some kid pictures instead without worrying a total weirdo can see them too. (Not that some of you aren't weirdos... stranger weirdos is probably more accurate.)


Our little Addy is a sunbeam this year! She was absolutely thrilled. A friend told me she did great in there, only breaking form to stand up to do some silent arabesques during singing time.

She came home from church with a crown that said, "I am a child of God." It's been an important accessory this week.

 Even Grace has gotten in on the crown bandwagon.

so long, farewell

Dearest Readers,

I'm done.

I've been blogging here for over 7 years now. DougandJackie.blogspot.com has been a long, strange trip. It shows the evolution of our family, and it captures the good, the bad, and the ugly. I love it.

But blogs like ours aren't en vogue anymore and I've been running out of steam for a while now. I never really know who's reading, and we also want to keep our girls and our identities safer. I've decided that I'm simply done.

In a week or so I'll go private (which kills off most blogs anyway, right?), and I'll keep posting pictures for our families to see. I welcome friendly stalkers too, so if you're interested in an invite let me know.

Thanks for reading!

Adios,

Jackie

san fernando 10 years later

A decade ago I served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in San Fernando, California.

San Fernando is the valley just north of LA, so we took a day after our Disney trip to visit ye ol' mission. I wanted to reminisce and show Doug and the girls what it was like.

The view of the valley from Mulholland Drive

A quick stop at the Los Angeles Temple (we went there 3 or 4 times on my mission)

I served mostly among the poor Spanish-speakers, so all of my favorite places are most decidedly ghetto and not what I'd consider safe for my small kids. So I had to get strategic with where we visited.
So we ate at places like Universal City Walk and In-n-Out (so authentic!), and drove around the questionable areas during the day. (Although we did do a drive by of one of my sleaziest apartments at night, and Doug still can't believe they let us live there. Me neither, pal.)

Dinner in Universal City Walk

I loved stopping by the neighborhoods I used to know so well. We hit up a Vallarta, saw La Estaca on Saticoy, and drove around and around the streets I used to tract on whilst wearing skirts and dorky shoes.

It was quite the emotional trip. Getting hit with so many memories--both good and bad--was something else. Missions are really challenging, but for me it was still one of the greatest experiences of my life. I'm grateful I could share it with my family. And I'm grateful I got some good pan dulce in the process.