In the house with R&B

Ventura

2010-07-30T16:52:00.008-07:00

What a fun long weekend in the beach town of Ventura. The kids had a great time with Grandpa Chavez, their Aunts and Uncles and Cousin Oliver.

Ventura Harbor

Briella and Aunt Jenny

Briella and Mommy

Sis-in-Law's
(And they're both Hispanic!!! (right Jenny) LOL)

Playing in the beach with Uncle Johnny

Grandpa, Aunt Jenny and Briella

Sharing stories with Uncle Johnny

Wrestle Mania with Uncle Johnny

My goofy Boy

Sharing the sand with Uncle Stevie

Oliver's next word will be truck!

Malibu and Botanical gardens

2010-07-18T14:54:00.011-07:00

A fun weekend with friends from Tucson at a Malibu Beach and fun later at the Botanical Gardens.

Briella and Saryah (friends from Arizona!)

Malibu Beach

With friends at the botanical gardens

Lovely Gardens

RJ Boogie Boarding

DOLPHINS!!

Cort Boogie Boarding

Little Ladies

Miss B in the Sand

At the botanical gardens... the children's garden

With cousin Oliver

2010-07-18T14:44:00.003-07:00

We had a great time with Auntie Sa and our little cousin Oli!

Rylan's Birthday

2009-05-17T21:35:00.005-07:00

My big guy turned 7 in April. He wanted a Soccer Cake so this is what I came up with... and I was trying to get the "players" on the field right before we put the candles in the cake!

Making use of the snow that's left

2009-03-09T21:47:00.003-07:00

The kids decided they needed to sled on the ice hill that's left in our front yard

Happy Birthday

2009-03-09T21:27:00.009-07:00

How did our little girl turn 5? Seems like yesterday we were going to the hospital for her birth.

Briella wanted a "swimming cake" for her birthday dinner. So... this is what we came up with... it was fun decorating the teddy bears with swimming suits and inner tubes. The beach chairs were a lot of fun too!

Happy Birthday Girl!

Georgie brought her a real tea set... Briella's been having soo much fun playing with it.

Opening presents before school (that was a bit crazy!)

Field Trip

2009-03-09T21:24:00.004-07:00

Briella and I joined Rylan for his class field trip to one of the high schools to see a play. This is his 1st grade teacher.

January 2009

2009-02-04T09:40:00.003-07:00

It's been a busy month.. and not many photos to show for it.

Our family snap shot

Julie and I grew up together in the Sacramento area... here's her family snap shot with hubby Ruben and their 4 kids. (They were on a road trip.. had been to Sedona and we had them for Sunday Lunch)

Rylan on the Wii Fit... looks like he's doing the ski jump.

Miss Briella... her cowgirl hat must have not been fancy enough.. she decorated it... nice change as she's usually decorating the house and we're always pulling scotch tape off the walls.

More Snow... and it keeps coming down

2008-12-18T09:41:00.003-07:00

3rd day of school closures... good thing we made it to the library on Tuesday... but do need to get out today.... running out of groceries... Jon said the road are terrible and hardly any visibility. The winds are terrible... snow blowing sideways, so will wait until later in the day to venture out.

Sledding

2008-12-18T09:36:00.003-07:00

A neighbor friend came over Tuesday and played in the snow with the kids.

I think this morning, Thursday, we have double what we had Tuesday!

Rylan and Jerrit

Miss Briella

Christmas Cookie Bakers

2008-12-18T09:28:00.003-07:00

Yesterday was the 2nd day of school closure. We are trying to keep busy during these cold snowy days... the kids spent the afternoon making yummy cookies... and I think they used several pounds of icing and sprinkles... Thankfully, Jon helped me clean up the "artistic bakery project"!

School is Canceled... and it's not officially winter yet

2008-12-16T09:04:00.003-07:00

Over a foot of snow this morning and it hasn't stopped since 4pm yesterday... school is closed.... a good day to make the Christmas cookies the kids have been wanting to make. We're trying to stay warm... a big change from Maui for sure!

Jon taking a break from shoveling

Shoveling....

Maui 2008

2008-12-14T19:05:00.003-07:00

We had a wonderful two weeks in Maui.... wish we were still there!

Rylan's shirt would puff up in the hot tub... Michelin Pool Boy!

Briella boogie boarding

Jon insists on working on our condo when we're in Maui... he painted 2 bathroom and our bedroom... the kids and I hit the beach instead!

Rylan boogie boarding

Rylan loves to play chase on the beach

Snow Already!

2008-11-10T11:20:00.002-07:00

Good thing Briella and I are off to California this week... don't know if I'm ready for snow soo soon.

Halloween 2008

2008-11-01T08:51:00.003-07:00

What a warm and nice night to go trick or treating.

The kids loaded up and we handed

out all our candy by 7pm... woo hooo.. turn out the lights and early to bed!

Rylan was French Fries ( I couldn't resist buying his costume)
and Briella was a Lady Bug.

Land Barron

2008-11-01T08:47:00.002-07:00

Mr. Rylan proceeds to win most Monopoly games we play with him. It usually takes several weeks for the game to end... but he usually owns the Seattle world by the time we're done!

We play the Seattle Edition... Starbucks and Boeing are the Big time properties... and he usually ends up putting several houses on them... and we end up bankrupt!

Special Company

2008-11-01T08:46:00.002-07:00

We had a special visit from Corle during Special Meeting Time.

My Crazy Kids and a visit from Aunt Sa

2008-10-06T12:52:00.002-07:00

Cruising through the house at Mach 10 with their crash helmets!

An impromptu picnic

We love our Aunt Sa!

Fun in Henderson

2008-09-24T09:53:00.005-07:00

We had a great time with Errol and Glenna... the kids didn't want to come home as they swam everyday!

Iced Lattes and Bocce Ball!

Camping Sedona

2008-09-07T16:53:00.007-07:00

We had a wonderful weekend in Sedona... we camped right on Oak Creek... and we did some Arizona Surfing!! Loved the quiet, peaceful time together!

Briella going down the pint sized rapids...this is Arizona Surfing at it's finest!

Rylan's Turn.... he jumped on the raft like a boogie board and took off! Great fun!

Daddy's turn... (Thankfully Jon didn't grab the camera on my run!! LOL)

Yee Haa

Getting out of the current before he's a mile down stream... had to teach the kids about the difference between the ocean and a river.

Rylan's becoming quite the picture taker.

Rylan and Jon engineered (of course!) a run for the kids' shark and crab races!

Looks like the crab won.

Rylan driving his FJ Cruiser Grandpa C. got him in Maui.

On the Trolly Bus in Sedona

Gotta love the Pink Jeeps

Sedona Views

2008-09-07T16:38:00.003-07:00

We had a very nice weekend camping in Sedona... here's the scenery photos.

Elephant Rock

Happy Birthday Jon

2008-09-02T09:11:00.003-07:00

We celebrated Jon's Birthday a few days late... due to a very busy weekend. Rylan said it's the best cake he's ever had... woo hoo... way to go mom!
The blue candles have a value of 10 and the green candles a value of one... we'll see if you can figure out how old Jon is now! Some new friends we just met from Australia said Jon doesn't look a day over 30! I better start using HIS face cream!! lol

Happy Birthday Auntie Sarah

2008-08-25T11:27:00.001-07:00

Hope you have a great birthday and have a great trip!!

Lemurs, Tigers and Lions

2008-08-25T11:06:00.006-07:00

Idaho Falls Zoo

Whoa... is this guy waking up?

These are for our Aussie friends from Down Under

2008-08-25T10:58:00.003-07:00

Errol and Glenna we took these for you! Thought we'd bring "home" to you all the way from Idaho! (these photos of the "dunnies" are from the zoo outing from our trip in May to Idhao Falls)

The Circus, The circus is the place for me!

2008-08-25T10:49:00.004-07:00

We drove 2 hours to see the circus... was a lot of fun. The kids had a good time. Here's the photos that turned out in the dark.

Bedtime Photos

2008-08-25T10:40:00.003-07:00

We had so much time out at the pool, I didn't get any photos of the kids with A. Sa and Grandma... so the night before as I was putting the kids to bed we had some impromptu photos!

Miss B and her "dolly". She's had that doll since she was 3 months old. It was to help with the colic. Mommy has done surgery on it a few times.... as it's becoming an antique!

I think Rylan has had enough photos for one night! Boys really don't like cameras do they?

Dim Sum

2008-08-25T10:31:00.005-07:00

Briella wanted Uncle Troy to take her to Dim Sum... so we all headed off to our favorite Dim Sum close by. (Sarah and Troy had been to Dim Sum at least 4 times that week!! A lot of company and we all love Dim Sum... Uncle Steve was just in town, we missed him by 2 days)
Hey Sa, do you think they could Air Freight some of that coconut shrimp over here?!

Here's Miss B demonstrating the use of Chop Sticks at age 4!

YUM!

Rylan prefers the Western method... just like his mom.
Grandpa's not so sure what Jon's soo excited about!

Jelly Bean Factory-California

2008-08-25T10:25:00.003-07:00

Jon and I decided to take the kids up to the Jelly Bean Factory during our trip to Sarah's this summer. Only 4 calories per bean! Eat up!

On the Jelly Bean Tour

Jelly Beans from the Sky.

Yes Ladies, that's Mr. George Clooney.. out of Jelly Beans no less!

Ever wonder why your city taxes are so high?

2008-08-25T10:22:00.002-07:00

So here we are at one of the city parks this summer... here's at LEAST 9 city employees WATCHING one other city employee working a stump grinder!

I want a refund!

Swimming at Aunt Sa's

2008-08-25T10:18:00.004-07:00

What a fun trip in July at Auntie Sa's and Uncle Troy's.

SOCCER

2008-08-25T09:35:00.005-07:00

We've had a busy soccer summer this year. Mom coached both teams so between 2 practices and 2-3 games per week... we are winding down. This is our last week of games. Here's some photos of Briella and well it's a lot more intense at the boys U8 level and so I have to remember to grab my camera out of my bag for Rylan's games...hence only one photo of Rylan.

Daddy facilitated most of Briella's games.

Getting ready to kick off!

Go Briella!

Another Save by Mr. Rylan!

GOAL!
(This one's for Uncle John and Steve....yes, that's a boy behind her!)

Go Grapes!

2008-08-05T15:06:00.003-07:00

That's Miss Briella throwing in from the touch-line. And Daddy was facilitating. Having both teams a shade of purple and both named the Grapes was a bit funny. We managed and the girls had a fun game.

Mommy's new favorite photo

2008-06-21T21:46:00.002-07:00

In May we took a LONG road trip up to see Jon's parents in Idaho. I'll get the rest of the photos posted sometime this century, but for now... I love this photo of my two babies who are growing up way too fast!

Soccer Season

2008-06-17T21:24:00.003-07:00

We had enough power in our camera to take one photo of Briella's first practice. And Jon got one on his camera phone. A busy year as Mom is coaching both R and B's teams and on the soccer board as well.

Story Time

2008-05-13T11:57:00.004-07:00

Rylan gave his room to Grandma during her visit. He camped out on Briella's pull-out bed. All 3 of them were trying to fit on this tiny twin bed... guess daddy lost the "I need more room" battle!

3 peas in a pod

The Birthday Bash

2008-05-13T09:36:00.006-07:00

Yes, that's Jon getting into the action.

Lots of Fun.
Jon and I have decided we need a basement decked out just like this!

(minus the 13 extra children!!)

Hello Kitty and Nascar fans!

We'll it's been around 6 weeks from the party and I'm just getting around to posting... guess I need to get sick more often... NOT!

The kids had a blast at the party.... lots of fun, laughter and CAKE. Grandma Lynda from Colorado got to fly in for the party... was lots of fun.

Someone needs to let Chione know we're DONE with this Snow!

2008-05-13T09:26:00.003-07:00

No, this is not an old picture. Today is May 13th, YES MAY, and this is what we woke up to.

Last week we were in Phoenix enjoying high 80's and here we are.

Briella's BBQ for dads at school today got cancelled.

I hope the flowers the kids planted for me for Mother's Day survive.

I guess with this crazy weather, it's no wonder I've been out of commission for almost a week now. I finally went to the doc yesterday...I left with a diagnosis of bronchitis and a bag full of meds.

Birthday at Home

2008-04-19T08:34:00.003-07:00

I think we've celebrated R and B's birthday's for a month now! Briella wanted a pink cake with sprinkles and writing... so here's her cake to order! It was a yummie strawberry creme torte.

PreSchool Party

2008-04-19T08:27:00.004-07:00

Enjoy photos of Briella's Preschool Birthday Party. The lady bug cake was a hit!

Dancing to Music

I think it was the hokie pokie

Milestones

2008-03-05T15:48:00.003-07:00

Our "babies" are growing up tooo fast. But what can you do? Rylan lost his first tooth this past week, and when I say lost, I mean lost.... a hole in his mouth and no tooth to be found!

And Miss Briella turned 4 today. I'll get her preschool birthday party photos posted soon, but right now I have a cake to frost.... Strawberry Cream Torte.... yum yum.

Doughnuts

2008-03-01T22:29:00.004-07:00

I asked Rylan what he wanted to do on a recent Saturday morning... "Make Doughnuts!" So after mommy went and worked out (sort of an oxymoron) we made doughnuts! The kids had fun rolling and cutting and mommy did the hot oil work. How do you ever get that hot oil smell out of your house when it's 20 degrees outside?
And does anyone know how hard it is to find a doughnut cutter? Not one was to be found in any of the retail stores in here town... not even the 2 kitchen stores! Luckily one of our friends had one we could borrow. So nice of her to trust us with a 40 year old antique.

Family Company

2008-03-01T22:15:00.003-07:00

We had soo much fun with Bill and Carlene. They had been camping down in Quartzite with the snowbirds and stopped in and spent a night with us on their way back home to the Spokane area. Was great to see them again...
and have a grandma to play with the kids while mommy cooked dinner!
Bill is Papa Bob's first cousin. Jon and I had a lot of nice visits with them when we lived in Moscow. And oh how we miss them.

No Auntie Sa, RJ is not picking his nose... he's doing that Kindergarten thing they do! One of these days I'm going to get it on video. We call it the Kindergarten Dance!

Cupcakes with Feet!

2008-03-01T22:05:00.003-07:00

Grandma Lynda sent us these fun cupcake molds with feet. We sure had fun decorating them!

Sprinkles, Sprinkles, Sprinkles

Miss Briella, proud of her creations.

And Mr. Rylan with his.
I found these cute aprons on clearance for $6 each... love the bargain... and they're soo cute!

The finished products... "Cheese!"

Rylan's 100th Day of School Party!

2008-03-01T22:00:00.002-07:00

What fun...

Rylan and Braden taking the attendance to the office.

Daddy came and joined us for the party.
R and B Making Fruit Loop Necklaces... yum, yum.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T16:57:00.001-07:00

Make a free ecard - it's easy!

It's finally sunny

2008-02-05T17:28:00.000-07:00

Jon decided to take some photos after work yesterday...
hopefully we'll see our lawn by September!

King of the Mountain

City Law requires homeowners to shovel within 6 hours after the snow
has stopped falling.... and we continue to shovel.

Our burried front "yard"

Snow Day - Five Hundred and Sixty Seven

2008-02-04T09:56:00.000-07:00

Well here we are hunkered down again, rescheduling appointments due to another school closure and our front yard has MOUNDS of snow on it... maybe we can teach the kids to snowboard off the front yard!!

Jon only shoveled 3 times in a 24 hour period... so those of you who ask what to get him for his birthday... A Snow Blower sounds great (we'll moved the boat down the list a bit!!) This way, once you have the snow blower in the garage, it won't snow anymore!!!!

Really, it is pretty and thankfully my SUV is all wheel drive so I can get around if I have to... I just hope to see the dentist before my 50th birthday!! HA .

Oh and by the way... GO GIANTS!!! Way to kick Brady's rear-end!!!!

Front Yard Snow Peaks

Shoveling... again.

Back Yard View

yes... there is a street back there somewhere.

Rylan deciding to climb up the pile of snow
the winds were really stong... our front door had to be shoveled out... and this is Arizona! It's funny, people think all of Arizona is Phoenix.

Heavy equipment operator.
Throwning a snow ball at mommy! Luckily I was on the other side of the window!
All smiles!

Legoland - Christmas Day 2007

2008-01-19T09:04:00.001-07:00

Well what a fun day. Legoland was great for R and B. Rylan could ride all the rides (height requirements) and there were only 2 Briella couldn't get on. She loved the fast rollercoasters! Was neat to see all the things they make out of legos!

The Legoland Christmas Tree

This photo we took for Papa Bob... with the Legoland fisherman

They both did really good, driving their own cars... no they're not on tracks.

But help us when they turn 15!

Lego zebras

And giraffes

The Nation's Capital out of legos.
Unfortunately, we didn't get any photos of Las Vegas Land.

Captain Rylan... yes we got stuck and these boats don't have reverse!

The firework finale for the day!

January Fun

2008-01-19T08:57:00.000-07:00

Here's some recent photos taken in the last week or so. Enjoy!

R and B with Kim and Reta... we had a fun 2 days with them...
Too bad Daddy was on a business trip!

Miss B with Belle

Happy Birthday Gin!
We had a nice dinner at a local Italian Restaurant sans kids!

Sledding clips

2008-01-08T20:59:00.000-07:00

Sledding videos from today...
a lot of Rylan's "tumbles" were staged... he thought it funny to roll down the hill...
and of course try to run into his sister... it's more fun that way.

Snow day- Sledding

2008-01-08T20:52:00.000-07:00

I've decided to try and post some of the short videos I took of the kids sledding today... one good thing from not finishing your back yard is they can sled there!
This one is of Briella (in Rylan's old coat... I can't keep them in clothes that fit these days!)... I kept having to shovel the end of the run further as they kept face planting into the snow!

Schools cancelled again

2008-01-08T08:42:00.000-07:00

Today is sunny and a temperature of 1 degree... Maui looks better everyday!
I tried shoveling yesterday... the snow was up to my knees... the kids had fun sledding with the neighbors...as long as the snow plow doesn't keep plowing us IN.... well be good to go!

And another day to keep the kids from going stir crazy!

2 feet over night and it's still coming down

2008-01-07T09:22:00.000-07:00

Schools were cancelled Sunday night for Monday... but Gore still expects their associates to show up for work. Jon had to shovel out the the door to his truck... as did our neighbors to get to work... got around 2 feet last night and it's not letting up at all. We already had 2 feet in the yard... this is surely a snowy winter.

Disneyland 2007 - Day One

2008-01-05T13:20:00.000-07:00

Well it might take me a month to get our week-long trip to Southern California posted. We had a great time, taking time in at 3 different parks.
This post is our first day at Disneyland. It was a nice warm day; we enjoyed tee-shirt weather and short waits at the park and saw our first parade of all the Disney characters. The kids aren't used to lines in our little town, so we had to explain the hurry up and wait concept! Enjoy!

Disney's Magical Holiday Parade

Belle and Beast... from Beauty and the Beast

Chip and Dale

Pinocchio and a stuffed Mickey Mouse

Dancing snowmen

Mickie and Minnie

Goofy

The princess float... Snow White in front, Sleeping Beauty on left and Ariel in Green on right. Yes, when you have a 3 year old daughter you have to get all the princesses names RIGHT! Poor Jon couldn't keep them straight... "No Jon, Cinderella wears a BLUE dress".

Marching soldiers

Donald and Daisy Duck

Mrs. Clause

The genie, Aladdin and Princess Jasmine

In front of Chip and Dale's tree house in Toon Town

In Mickey Mouse's Chair

Yes, we waited an hour and a half to meet and greet with Mickey Mouse! And please don't assume that the people behind you in line won't try to cut in front of you! By the end of this we were ready to rumble!

By now our first child has graduated from college and these are our grandkids!! (haha)

Mickey returning the autograph book back to Briella
(Yes, you can now purchase an autograph book for the price of a new car at the front gates of the park!) It is kinda cool to have all the "autographs" tho'.

In front of "It's a small world." This was my favorite ride when I was 3 years old.
After going on roller coaster rides and loving them... Briella says to me a few minutes into It's a small world... "Mom, why are we going soooo slow!"

During the holidays Disneyland decorates everything for Christmas. So, it's a small world becomes It's a small world holiday. Was fun to see all the different dolls from around the world, singing their Christmas carols. The geese quacking Jingle Bells was a bit funny tho'.

Loved the little Mexican dolls singing Feliz Navidad

Yes, that's Merry Christmas in Hawaiian.

"Look Mommy, it's Maui!!"
Good to know where raising them up to recognize the important things in life!!!!! lol

More Hawaiian dolls

The outside of It's A Small World

On the boat going into It's a Small World

King Author's Carousel

After all the dark frightening rides (Yes, it's hard to find one that's not), the carousel was a nice reprieve.

Rylan and Briella loved the tea cups, spinning in circles, going in circles... Mommy would have "gupped" (yes, grandma that's for you), so I got to take photos and people watch!

Beauty Shop

2008-01-04T18:40:00.001-07:00

Briella loves making daddy "beautiful." After dinner she loves to crawl up into his chair and comb his hair. Tonight she found some headbands!

Maui November 2007

2007-12-16T12:22:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful 2 week stay at our island home on Maui. We have a lot of photos to share. We'll just try to put the best ones on our blog. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving 2007 - Maui!

Briella in the Sand

Cousins - Jeannette and Steve

Jon and Gin - Date night at the Fairmont Kea Lani Lobby

Big smiles from Mr. Rylan

Noodles and Briella -
Uncle Johhny's gag gift to Jenny, a size 4T short and tank top set!

Rylan and Trae - Sand Heads

2nd cousins - Briella and Elianna

Trae, Rylan, Briella and Elianna

Rylan, Briella and Elianna

Rylan decided boogie boarding was getting borning, "Mom I'm going to surf!"
The kid actually got up and was moving along!!
Guess, next year is surfing lessons!

Pretty plumeria flowers with Grandpa Chavez

Thought this was a cool photos of the boys and their footprints in the sand.

Trying to figure out how to stand up on the boogie board... within 30 seconds he got it down!

R and B at Whalers Village in Kaanapali.

Eli, Trae, Rylan and Briella

Grandpa relaxing on a boogie board.

Jenny and Steve - Relaxing!

The most endangered species in the world... A Hawaiian Munk Seal
She decided to sun herself for most of the day... the area was roped off so she wouldn't be disturbed.

Cupcakes from Great Auntie Priscilla

Grandpa got Rylan this remote controlled Toyota Cruiser.
Rylan had smiles a mile wide!

With Uncle Johnny at the beach in Wailea.

Pacific Whale Foundation snorkeling tour
with Auntie Sa, Uncle Troy and Grandma

Hawaiian Sea Turtle

Does it get any better than this?!

Sledding!!!

2007-12-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we had 3 full days of snow fall. The kids had fun sledding and playing in the snow. Mom didn't think all the shoveling was fun! Having to shovel out the driveway to get to the store for groceries... welcome to winter at 7000 feet!

Snow Day

2007-12-10T13:12:00.000-07:00

Well I'm soo behind on photos... here's the start of our snow storm on Saturday... last night we got another 6 inches and schools are closed today, Monday. Hope you are all staying warm!

Briella and Daddy

Rylan in the snow

Helping Daddy Shovel

Rylan's Halloween Party

2007-11-02T13:55:00.000-07:00

Briella and I attended Rylan's kindergarten halloween party... both kids had a lot of fun!

Rylan and Sussa

Bobbing for apples.... yuck!

Cutting out his flying bat.

winter fairy, cinderella, rylan and a cheerleader

Rylan and his Sister

Rylan and his teacher

Superman and a chic witch!

Stranger and Halloween Safety

2007-10-30T14:24:00.001-07:00

I've been volunteering on Tuesday mornings in Rylan's classroom. This morning 2 police officers from the local force came into Rylan's room and the class next door joined our class. They shared with the kids about good and bad strangers and how to be safe tricker treating. Was funny how the police officers kept reminding the kids to eat their vegetables!

Rylan's on the left in the brown and orange shirt.

Briella's Preschool Halloween Party

2007-10-30T14:16:00.000-07:00

The kids were sure cute in their costumes! I took a few photos this morning after I dropped Briella off.

Sounds like their party was a success!

Catorina, Briella and Riley

John (Spiderman), Catorina (witch), Briella (cowgirl), Riley (Tinkerbell) and Aiden (batman). There's one more boy in the class who didn't dress up so the teachers didn't put him in the photo.

Go NAU!

2007-10-30T14:09:00.001-07:00

Well these sure weren't the "Cougs" Jon and I used to go and watch in Pullman (married without kids)... but the game was fun. We've never seen soo many QB sneek plays called in one game!

And we had fun with Molly too!

Special Meeting Company

2007-10-30T14:03:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago we had Dan N. and Bill B. after special meeting. Dan and I have known each other since high school and Bill knew my grandmother in Hawaii. Was so nice to have both of them here. Briella took right to Dan, which was a surprise to all since she doesn't tend to like Men!

Costume Birthday Party

2007-10-20T21:11:00.000-07:00

Rylan and Briella attended a costume birthday party today... unfortunately I didn't get a photo of them in their entire outfits. Briella was a cowgirl complete with hat and boots. Rylan was the fast race car driver.

After they got home, Rylan was complaining of a sore throat... I decided to take his temp and here we are with a fever of 102!

Who would have known.. he jumped around in the bounce house for 2 hours!

Hopefully, we'll be over the "start of school illnesses" soon!

To all my fellow mothers...

2007-10-16T18:37:00.001-07:00

A day in the life a mom...especially if you have more than 1 child!!

Mobile Phone Salesman Sings

2007-10-16T17:05:00.001-07:00

This is an amazing true story of a cell phone salesman to opera star!

Cowgirl and her brother

2007-10-09T12:41:00.001-07:00

After Sunday meeting a few weeks ago, I decided I better take some photos of the kids... they're growing up too fast. I forgot to get Briella's "cowboots" in the first shot and Rylan was DONE with having his one picture taken!

Airport Open House

2007-09-30T07:49:00.001-07:00

The small airport in our town hosted an open house. Despite the 30-40 hour a mile wind gusts we enjoyed looked at and sitting in the various aircraft on display and the fire and snow removal equipment.

In front of a US Coast Guard Helicopter.

Inside the chopper

Trying to stay standing upright... the winds were fierce... in front of the experimental airplane.

Rylan in the airport's HUGE snow plow
Briella "driving" the airport's fire truck ... the seat is in the middle!

Ballet for Miss Briella

2007-09-14T12:27:00.001-07:00

Miss Briella ready for ballet.

Briella has been asking all summer for gymnastics or ballet.

I found a cute little ballet class at a local gym... the instructor dances around like a giselle... and the 4 little girls bound around the room!

They are quite cute learning how to be graceful!

This photo also shows off her new "tan." She went from milk chocolate to DARK after our 5 days at Lake Powell.

My Brother the HGTV Star!

2007-09-07T09:27:00.000-07:00

Well what'da know? Steve made it into acting.... guess modeling in college wasn't his gig!! Actually he's a "bigshot" business owner importing Brazillian Soapstone... check out the link below as HGTV caught up with him at a Las Vegas trade show!

Click this link: Beautifully Durable Kitchen Countertops

Lake Powell 2007

2007-09-05T20:42:00.000-07:00

Our 2nd Annual Lake Powell Boating Trip!
We camped at Bullfrog this year; it's half way in both directions for the CO and AZ group. Dad flew into Flag from CA. And we missed Auntie Sa and Uncle Troy... they were moving into their new abode.

We had a great time (except for the evening I got heat stroke, motion sickness and a migraine all in one!)

That's what I get for getting up at 5:45am to get some good skiing water!

Other than that we enjoyed water skiing, wake boarding, and pulling the kids on the tube behind the Sea Doo!

I learned to wake board... Jenny was working on her 180's and Johnny and Stevie were showing us up catching air! Steve actually landed a full 360, plus a 180! Or was that the face plant?!

The kids loved building sand castles and jumping off the back of the ski boat, cannon ball style!

Rylan's uncles want to get him on a wake board next year... we'll see... Briella may take it up first! The girl has no fear!

Enjoy the photos... again, my memory stick is lost... so just a few to share.The Lake Powell Gang... Jenny is taking the photo.

The Colorado Group! John, Mom, Steve and Jenny (aka Noodles!)

Daddy and Briella

R and B loved the tube!

The bigger the air the bigger the smiles!

Jenny not quite getting the 360 landed....

Briella getting a piggy back from Grandma

R and B in the back of the boat...

Rylan with his current 5 year old frog face for photos.

Briella's first day of Preschool

2007-08-27T16:30:00.000-07:00

In the rush of things this morning... I forgot to take her first day of school photo. So here's Miss Briella after her first day of preschool.

Can't belive they're both in school!

Our 10th Anniversay Date

2007-08-27T15:44:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful anniversary dinner at "The Cottage". I had blackened halibut in a green chile and chipotle sauce... even after living in Seattle, I've never had halibut prepared this way. Yum. Jon enjoyed his salmon with tropical salsa and desert was a yummie chocolate layered pie with a hazelnut crust. YUM.

Here's what we look like 10 years later! Will have to find a wedding photo so you can compare!

August 2007

And 10 years ago... Seattle, WA.

August 1997

Errol Hansen Photography

Happy 10th!!

2007-08-23T12:01:00.001-07:00

Well we've made it 10 years together!! Yesterday was our official day. Jon brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers. And we have a babysitter tomorrow for a special dinner/date-night out!

Rylan's first day of All Day Kindergarten

2007-08-23T11:44:00.001-07:00

Rylan has started all day Kindergarten. Friday was his first full day which went off without a hitch. Monday and Tuesday were harder. He's been fine at school, it's just been getting there. After I visited his classroom for a few hours on Tuesday the melt downs have ended. All Day is a BIG transition for these little guys! Especially since I've stayed at home with both of my kids... he kept saying, "I want to stay home with you mommy." I'm so glad we're over that and he's happy to be off to school.

And to think that life would get slower when the kids are in school. NOPE... it gets faster! I don't think we'll catch up until they're off to college! (Sorry Dana!)

First Day of Kindergarten

With little sister before we loaded up in the car.

Grandpa's House

2007-08-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

At the end of July and into August I took the kids to visit Grandpa in California for 5 days before school started. Auntie Sa came up for our trip, so we got to spend some fun time with our doting Auntie! (And she and Uncle Troy are buying a new house with a big pool! We can't wait to come visit!)

But lets back up a bit here....We returned home from Edgewood convention at 7pm Sunday night. When I'm putting Briella to bed, she says to me, "Mommy, no more long trips, okay?" Poor child, this was after our 7 hour trip pulling our trailer back from Edgewood! I could hardly tell her we were leaving the next morning at 8am for the Phoenix airport to go visit Grandpa C. and Auntie Sa! Luckily, they were pretty tired Monday morning and after rushing some breakfast down them, I threw them into their car seats and we listened to books on tape by Beverly Cleary for the 2 hour car ride to the airport. The books on tape are quite a blessing... That is until Briella decides to start singing at the top of her lungs and Rylan can no longer hear the story!! And then the back seat starts sounding like an African Stampede!! With all the hooting and hollering you'd think I was carrying 40 irritated elephants in the back of my SUV!!

And then.... to continue the chaos.... The saga of the missing memory stick has been solved since returning home from California. Hence, I had to use the "old fashioned" camera (no kids, there's no preview on the back) and my film turned out cloudy! Luckily Auntie Sa took a lot of photos and she shared them with us. Enjoy!

In front of the Delta King. An old paddle boat used on the Sacramento Delta that has been turned into a restaurant, hotel and theatre.

At the park with Auntie Sa.
Mommy was taking the photos!

Rylan decides they need help on the teeter-totter.

Go Horsey Go!

Out front at Grandpa's

With Auntie Sa and Mommy!

And Now Photos from Mommy's camera.... ugh.. how I wished I had my digital with us!! If only my kids hadn't temporarily lost my memory stick!

This should make Uncles Johnny and Stevie proud!

Rylan loved going down the slide!

Miss B, all goggled up!

R and B swimming across the pool.

Having lunch with grandpa at Fat City.

At the Train Museum in Sacramento.

All tuckered out!

Back home.

The Freezer Ordeal

2007-08-14T08:16:00.000-07:00

I'm woken up by a semi-hysterical husband at 6:30 this morning. "The kids left the freezer door in the garage open and there's water everywhere!" The only response I could mutter at this time of day was, "Huh?!" I quickly throw my legs over the edge of the bed, only waiting for the blood to get to my head, as not to fall over from dizziness for standing up too fast. I headed down stairs in my pajamas, meeting up with my tour guide husband to show me the damage! Sure enough, the garage floor has a river in it, consuming everything in it's path. The inside of the freezer had a combination of ice cream melting down the walls and raspberry juice everywhere!
By 7:30 this morning, I'd completely gone through an upright freezer, washed it out, hauled the damage to the trash, WASHED the garage floor (help!) and decided I'd mop the downstairs bathroom floor while I had the mop out anyway.
Any one needing to feel like supermom (of which I do not aspire to), grab a few kids an have them wreck havoc and wait to discover it until the following morning. Amazing how much one can get done in an freezer emergency!
And so my day begins!

Grand Canyon

2007-08-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

Rylan had a soccer game up at the Grand Canyon on Saturday. We made a long weekend out of it. Took the trailer up on Friday afternoon and got back just before meeting this morning! We had a great game (Coach Gin and #5 Rylan); saw the Canyon for the first time! And another first, California Condors flying above the Canyon! What an awesome sight! We were all worn out, but was a lot of fun seeing the sights... and ducking for cover when the monsoons hit. Amazing how the view into the Canyon disappeared when the rains hit. Enjoy!

California Condor flying above the Grand Canyon!

Ice Cream Break at the Fountain while the monsoons hit! Yum, Yum.

Go Gators!
The ball behind Rylan is actually out of bounds!
He scored 6 goals in the game!

Family Photo in front of the Canyon.
The kids were getting tired and Rylan was starting to get sunburned.
I'm sure when he's a teenager we won't be able to get him OUT of a hat!

Shot of the Canyon after the monsoons hit. Was nice the rains cleared out the smog that comes over from LA! (ugh!!)

View of the muddy Colorado River going through the Canyon.

Rylan and Briella enjoyed the REAL steam engine. This train is the engine to the Grand Canyon Railway passenger train. It takes passengers from Williams to the Grand Canyon Daily.

This one's for the Uncle's

2007-07-17T07:35:00.000-07:00

So we're eating dinner the other night and Rylan says, "Dad, stop dreaming about Toyota's!!" It was soo funny Jon and I almost fell off our chairs. Those of you who know Jon will understand!

Swimming Lessons

2007-07-12T12:48:00.000-07:00

Rylan and Briella with Sally and Westin H. What fun we had at swim lessons.
All dressed in dry clothes. We had fun running around the (gasp!) grassy field after lessons.

More Pool Party Photos

2007-06-28T10:42:00.000-07:00

Gin, Rylan, Briella and Jodi R's daughter.

Ready for some fun!

Mom and kids in the pool!

A Royal Morning

2007-06-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

Good morning! It's princess Briella and big brother Rylan!

Pool Pary at our cousin's house today!

2007-06-26T21:01:00.000-07:00

We had a blast swimming at our cousin's house today in Scottsdale, Arizona. We got up and left right after breakfast. After a 2 hour drive we were in Scottsdale. Mommy had a few shopping stops (Williams Sonoma and Gymboree) and then over to our cousin's house, JJ, Sam and Bronson Terpstra. We got to play with some other new friends too! What a fun day at the pool! It was only 111 degrees outside!

Rylan and Sam playing basketball

Rylan and Briella in the pool

Sam and Briella

Planning our next family excursion

2007-06-25T15:32:00.000-07:00

R and B.... possibly scheming our next family vacation?! Vegas or Hawaii? Hum......

"New Cow Boots"

2007-06-25T15:16:00.000-07:00

Rylan and Briella got new "cow boots." After we got home they played dress-up ALL day!

Water World in Denver, Colorado

2007-06-25T14:36:00.001-07:00

What a blast! Auntie Sa and Mommy took us to Water World. Uncle Stevie joined us later and we had so much fun flying down the water slides!

Freeze Tag with Auntie Sa

2007-06-25T14:23:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a week long trip to see Grandma Lynda in Colorado. Daddy had to stay home and work :( . We had a lot of fun... grandma has a big back yard and we played in the pool and the sand box. Auntie Sa was there from California and we played freeze tag with her!