Headed North

We went up to the great state of Alaska last month to visit my sister and family for my niece's graduation.  It was a nice chance to visit with everyone and catch up on all those things we miss over the miles.

Me and my beautiful mom

My 3 favorite sass-tastic nieces

Farewell Awanas

Here's a pic of our most recent year-end awards ceremony.  The kids have participated in a neighboring church's Awanas program for several years now but recently decided that they would like to try the youth group at our church instead.  This would be my daughter's last year as a "spark" (grades K-2) anyway so it seems like a good year to change.  I am looking forward to their new adventure but will miss the good leaders and friends they have made at Awanas. 

His Good Luck Outfit

My little prince charming has decided that his fireman outfit is "lucky".  That means that for most occasions it makes the attire appropriate.  He wears it to the super market, the swimming pool (although I don't allow it IN the pool), and even sleeps in it sometimes.  So it was no surprise when recently he decided to wear it fishing with Daddy.  It obviously worked because they caught fish.  Although the fishing luck may also be due to their tradition of kissing any fish they catch before they throw them back.  These two traditions are independently cute, but when I caught a picture of them simultaneously in action it was priceless.

F is for Flying and Fishing

How cool is it that you can fly into an airport in Lake Isabella, camp under your wing of your plane and fish within walking distance of the runway.  Well, we didn't do the camping but we hung out for a day and definitely took the chance to go fishing.  What a neat pit-stop on our way to Paso Robles to visit family.

My sister-in-law-to-be graduated from Law school this month so we headed out to Phoenix to celebrate and support her.  They just bought a house, so we stayed with them but before we got there we took a day to stay on the Colorado river with the kids at a casino called the Blue River.  It's got a cool indoor water play area where the kids can slide down the water slide or play in any of the many levels of pools or fountains.  It was a nice way to spend a weekend and enjoy time with family.

Two Easters

 This year we got to celebrate two Easters.  The kids were out of school since they hadn't had any snow days this year and we headed down to the desert to visit family for the first one.  We are very blessed to have aunts, uncles, grandparents and great-grandparents close enough to celebrate with them a few times a year all together.  We also got to see my sweet nephew and watch him toddle all over Great-grandma's house.  It's such a neat experience to enjoy holidays with kiddos and it reminds you of the value of family.  Also, seeing one of my sisters reminds me of how much I miss her since we live several hours away and don't get to visit very often. 

Then we went out to the wilderness and camped with some friends and rode ATVs.  We woke up from our tents to find that the Easter bunny had hidden eggs all over the campsite.  Luckily, the dogs were all tied up so they couldn't get to them first.  The kids had a fun time looking all over for eggs and doing a little target practicing with their bb guns when they were done.  They were very different kinds of Easters but both were fun.

First Field Trip

As kindergarteners these boys have been looking forward to their first field trip all year.  They got to take a trip recently to the local fire department and although it was cool, two of their daddies are firemen and my little man took friends to their own tour of a firehouse earlier this year (see previous posts).  So for these three little guys, the highlight of the day was getting to ride the school bus.  Isn't that funny?

King of the Hammers

We went camping this month out in the desert for the first time to see the "King of the Hammers" competition.  Literally, thousands of RVs set up a mini community in the middle of nowhere and all bring their dune buggies, 4x4s, rock crawlers and anything else they can makeshift up to race in the desert.  It was pretty windy but we camped in a sheltered spot so the only time we even noticed it was when we went to watch the races.  The kids didn't care though.  They just went about their business, catching lizards...

My Angel Nephew

He turns one this month and there may be no cuter one-year-old on the planet.  He's got such a cool, laid- back personality that you can't help but love him.  We are so excited to see him (and his mommy and daddy) for his baseball birthday party.  This little charmer is just starting to walk and couldn't be sweeter.

XOXOXO!

And Then She Was Eight

Here's some select shots from my little girl's 8th birthday.  She asked to have some girlfriends sleepover, make cupcakes and ride horses.  So that's what we did!  Her birthday present was getting her ears pierced.  I have always maintained she couldn't do it until she was 8 so this is quite a milestone for her as all of her girlfriends have had ear piercings for years now.  They were all so excited for her and full of sage wisdom.

Ladies, START your engines!

The kiddos spent some time with friends while hubby and I spent the last few days in Vegas, watching the NCAA basketball tournament with some friends from college.  When we got back we picked up the kids (and a friend) and headed over to Fontana to watch the NASCAR sprint series race from the cheap seats.  We were delighted to find that the kids not only figured out how to keep on their headsets but they actually ENJOYED the race and could follow the action.  I can see this becoming a fun family activity.

Celebrating Literacy

Every year the kids' school has a reading competition week.  They must read a certain amount of books to reach different levels of accomplishment.  Both kids got the highest award for reading in the program.  That's one of the reasons we enjoy this school.  It celebrates character and personal achievement as well as individual grades.  Great job kiddos.  Daddy and I are so proud of the people you are becoming.

 Here's my daughter with her girlfriends who also did well.  Kids are a reflection of the friends they choose and she has chosen some really great young ladies as friends.

Puppy Lovers

My princess joined some girlfriends to celebrate one of their birthdays recently and the theme was puppies.  The girls each got to "adopt" a stuffed animal puppy and they played some puppy-related party games. 

We love any excuse for a party and this was a fun one.

We finally got some winter weather!  While it was too warm to snow, it was still fun to go out and play in the rain.  Around here the rivers overflow and rush so strong that they will carry large logs down into the gorges with or without our help.  We prefer WITH...

 

Then the best part is stopping by the malt shop on our way out of the forest to warm up and get a treat!

Unseasonally Warm

Since the weather has been so unseasonally warm this winter (we have had almost no snow), we put the boat back on the lake the the boys decided to try a little fishing.  It paid off!

A Rough Way to Start Your New Year

Luckily we were just posing on New Year's Eve and it wasn't our car. 

Have a blessed Christmas everyone. 

Say CHEESE!

All together NOW!  "All I want for Christma-th ith my two front teeth".  My little cuddle bug is SO stinking cute right now.  I admit that he has gotten out of a couple of sticky situations with me in the last couple weeks just because I can't get mad at him with that adorable little smile.  I guess it's a "mom thing".

European History

This year, instead of doing a Christmas program, the second grade classes decided that they would put on a show about all of the geography and ancestry work they have been doing.  My daughter, having almost entirely European heritage (25% Danish, 25% Italian, Lots of German and English and a dash of French), got to participate in the European portion of the show.  She even got to go down center stage with two friends and say the only non-group speaking part in the show.  They did a great job, as did the three second grade classes.  Here she is with her friends in all of their glory:

The Star of the Show

It's my daughter's job every year to put on the star atop the Christmas tree and this year was no different.  This is a great time of year to establish traditions and this is one of ours.  I will be sad when she's too big for him to lift up there.