The "Dirt Jumps"

The boys love me taking them to an open property near us that has dirt jumps. They love taking their bikes their to do the jumps. The group shot of the boys is of Caden, Davin and Slater and their favorite buddies Matt and Blake. This one day we went Erin was actuually able to go with us. He is always the best participant. He always makes it fun for the boys, even Slater. Slater loves it when Daddy attempts to ride his bike. The older boys were able to wonder throught the trails and do the jumps, while Erin, Slater, Timeri and I went on our own adventure looking for bugs. We always seem to have a great time doing the most simple things.

Our swimming pool

 

 

Slater and Timeri at it again. I looked in the backyard to find them being creative at finding a way to make a swimming pool. Slater is so silly ! Timeri is a bundle of love as well ! Love them !!

Our bearded dragons

 

 

The boys fianlly got what they have always wanted... bearded dragons. Caden wanted it for his birthday and of course Davin lucked out getting one too for his half birthday.

Grant's park

On another get away to my dad's we traveled up to Ventura Harbor. My mom loved it there. First, we went to the beach with the kids, then we picked up linch and went to Grant's Park. It is a park hidden on top of the Ventura hills. When at the park you have a 180* view of the Ventura coast line. In the middle of the park stands a huge wooden cross. It has been standing there since the late 1800's, when the original Mexican missionaries had built missions in California. It is a little weathered, but it stands strong declaring its truth. It was beautiful ! The view made it even better.

First day of school for Timeri and Slater

Here is the first day of school for my two youngest loves. They were so excited to start school. They are attending Miss Peggy's Preschool in Murrieta. Slater couldn't wait. He wanted to bring his new backpack with him. It was praticaly the same size of him. After dropping them off, I was so excited to actually be kidless for a few hours. But, after a little bit... I started to miss them, and got sad that all my babies were in school. I have so much to be thankful for... I am so fortuante and blessed that I have four children and that they are healthy... and that they all like school.

Our beautiful baby boy is all grown up.

Our beautiful princess !

Caden's 8th birthday

 

 

Here is Caden on his 8th birthday. Can't believe my little baby is already 8. Where did the time go? It seems like yesterday we just had him. I remember driving to the hospital with Erin at 5 am. And then the first time holding him in my arms, just crying. Caden is a good boy and a great help to me. I love him so much !

Pirate Day

Its Pirate Day the gym. Slater just loved dressing up as a pirate !!

Here is Timeri and Slater with their favorite pirate Tracy, that they love so much.

Timrei the beautiful pirate princess.

Caden and Davin's first day

 

 

Today was Caden and Davin's first day of school. Caden is in second grade and Davin is in first. In the picture it is Davin and one of his favorite buddies Fernando. Caden is with his Dylan. I walked them in and Davin ran up to his new teacher and hugged her. Caden was strutting like he was the big man on campus. Davin thought that he wouldn't have as much fun in first compared to Kindergarten, because the Kindergarteners have an awesome play yard. Before I knew it Davin was walking in his class by himself. Caden still wanted me to stand next to him and actually held my hand while walking into the class. When I picked them up from school, Davin said "I love school", "I love my teacher can I have her forever?" His teachers name is Mrs. Shannon Hughes. She is great ! Ironically she was Caden's teacher when he was in first. Caden's teacher is Mrs. Jennifer Perales.

Our last fishing trip for summer '08

Our last little get away was with Papa Doug. We went fishing for three nights. We went to San Clemente Island for two and then Catalina Island for one. The water was calm and absolutley beautiful. We scurried around looking for the right kelp patty that all the fish hid in. We caught White Sea Bass, Yellowtail, Bluefin Albacore, Durado, Halibut and Squid. We saw seals, whales, a sea turtle, a marlin, a sun fish, flying fish and a shark... Yikes. The best part of the trip was me catching a HUGE Black Sea Bass. My arms were burning form all the reeling in. Once we caught it we had to let it go because it is a protected fish. This was Slaters first trip... he did great ! Caden and Davin had a blast ! It became a little crazy on the boat once we started getting a lot of bites... Rods were in every direction with hooks going everywhere, while all the little ones saying "its my fish !" Kids will be kids. Overall it was a great time. I loved seeing the excitement on the kids face when the were reeling in a fish. I am so happy that the kids enjoy one of Erin and my passions.

Pictures from our last fishing trip for summer 08

Kids Space Museum

The next day my dad and I took the kids to Kids Space Museum in Pasadena. They were able to interact with bugs and crawl through an ant maze. Caden enjoyed looking at fossil and animal fur with my dad. Timeri and Slater ended up jumping into the water...of course. We had a great time and the kids loved exploring the entire museum

Descanso Garden's

The kids and I went up to my dad's for the weekend. One night we were there we went to Descanso Garden in La Canada. We met Giselle and Rebecca and Marissa there. We rode the train around the gardens. It was neat the kids liked it.






Davin at a wishing well.


Rebecca, Giselle, Timeri and Marissa.

Tahoe

After leaving our little slice of heaven... we were on our way to Tahoe for the final leg of our vacation. We stayed in the Tahoe Keyes for our annual family vacation. The boys had a great time with their cousins Tony Matt and Nick. Erin and I had a memorable time while playing black jack ! Before we knew it our 3 week vacation was coming to an end with the final days in Tahoe.

A memorial for Mom

On our last day, we headed down to the shore of Twin Lakes. We all were talking about my mom. Each one of us expressed how much she is missed. Caden and Davin started collecting sticks, pine cones and driftwood... all things my mom had collected with them when they went on adventures with her... Caden found a log that would make a perfect seat. We all started putting the items they collected around the stump. Erin then started making the cross, and I started carving her acquired name "Monya" into the wood. We all thought it was a place she would love. The scenery is beautiful from this spot. We hope it stays there all year. We look forward to finding it next year. I know my mom would love being there through all the seasons. I also know that my mom is still having quite the celebration in heaven with her savior Jesus.

Pictures from the trip

The Tioga Pass

This is a picture of the Tioga Pass form years ago. SCARY !!! Everyone in the family thinks its really funny when we drive this road and I end up scunched down in the seat holding my seat belt for dear life. The Tioga Pass is on the East side of the entrance to Yosimite. It is beautiful scenery, however there is a 8000 foot drop off on this two lane road. Also, there is no gaurd rail on the cliff side. And the random signs on the mountain side that warn you of boulders falling. Whenever we drive on this road, I develop some sort of phobia. I become scared out of my mind. The kids laugh and Erin will swerve the car... Just great !! We take this road to get to more isolated lakes hidden in the Sierras.
Well this year Erin puuled off into a turn out and wanted to look over the edge. I stayed back about 50 feet from the edge. All the what ifs... a sudden gust of wind, an earthquake, a boulder falling or car swerving could send anyone right over the edge. Well, Erin decided to stand on the wall. I kept telling him to get down. He put his arms out to the side... I was starting to yell and cry at him to get away from the edge.... I was begging him to get down.. the kids were all in the car crying because they saw me crying and weren't sure what their lunatic dad was going to do. Excuse the language but the smart ass jumped... I was screaming... I didn't know their was a 10 foot ledge on the otherside of the wall. He was laughing so hard... THIS WAS NOT FUNNY TO ME !! I'll get him back one day. . .





Veiw looking into the approach of the Tioga Pass.

Our first adventure started with a fishing trip at the Lake. Timeri and Slater thouroughly enjoyed catching the fish. It was the waiting period for the fish to bite that is most memorable. It is rather humorous looking back at it now. But, when it was all occuring... Erin and I knew that our fishing days, of fishing for hours without any children interrupting, were long gone. It was one rod to the next being thrown in the water or someone reeling the line in just for the heck of it. The rocks that the boys and the little princess deligently threw into the water were for sure going to scare ALL fish away from us. Timeri finally started looking for bugs and putting them in a bug catcher. I think after the final "I've got to go pee", we knew it was time to retire for the cirst day.

Charger's house

Caden feeding Charger.

Charger and her baby.

Last year when we stayed at the cabin we named it "Charger's house", after the famous deer we named Charger. It hung out in the yard in front of the cabin. It would eat from our hands and veer into the windows to see what we were doing. One day, when we came back from one of our adventures... Erin got out of the car and the deer charged him. It was histerical... something you would see on America's funniest home videos. Every since then the kids would see the deer and they would scream "Daddy RUN !!" Later, Erin and I noticed the deer was pregnant. Well when we returned this year... guess who was in the front yard...CHARGER !! She had good news to share with us.... her baby.