First Snow

We were up early on Thanksgiving morning and went to Mount Baldy with the intention of spending the morning on the intertubes. It was a frosty 29 degrees on the mountain! Unfortunately, there was a high wind advisory. The ski lift was closed due to the wind so we made a wise decision to go back down the mountain about 5 minutes and play in the snow. What a wonderful way to begin Thanksgiving. We hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving too!

First Day of School

The first day of school has been the easiest one so far..... the boys woke up early, got dressed, ate breakfast, and were ready to go BEFORE they needed to leave. They started school on Thursday, September 2nd so they didn't have a long week of school, but they were exhausted at the end of the day. I started school the Monday before they did so it was a long week for all of us, but we are off to a fantastic start.

Meet the Teacher Night

The boys had Meet the Teacher Night the evening before school started. We love the fact that they get to come into their classroom, meet their teacher, see their friends and ease into a new year. This year Aiden is lucky enough to have the same teacher he had in Kindergarten. She moved up to First grade this year and we requested her the day that we found out about the change. Blake has Mrs. Doolittle this year and it's hard to believe that he is in 3rd grade. How are we old enough to have a child who will be 9 in a few months? He has begun cursive and multiplication already and loves the fact that now he is a part of the Laptop Learning Program. It's going to be a great year!!!

Dance Party at the Wiersma's

Jake and Amy had the Dirty Devils over for a pool party the day after the drive-in to end the summer. It was a fun day full of swimming and food and games and lots of socializing. The day ended with a dance party by the pool...... oh my goodness these kids have some moves!!!! It was already dark when the dance party started, so the picture quality isn't great, but you get the idea!

Despicable Me at the DRIVE IN

The men lounging at the Drive-in
J.P., Aiden, Blake and Gavin
Darren, Jeramie, Eric and Jake
Stacy, Stephanie, Tiffany, Amy, Lynda and Lily
Aiden didn't quite make it through the entire movie..... poor baby!
We played on a co-ed softball team this summer in LaVerne. We are the DIRTY DEVILS sponsored by Red Devil Pizza. I did not want to play at all, but Jeramie really did so I went along with it. I am so glad that I did! We had such a good time and made some fun new friends that we enjoyed spending time with this summer. We all went to the drive in the last Friday of summer to see Despicable Me. I forgot how much fun the drive-in can be!

We're moving to Palmdale!?

We spent one day at Mulligans racing cars and miniature golf before the 6:00 game.


Carson and Aiden at Happy Hour with Shirley Temples
Our own personal living room in the lobby.... yes, we were right at home.
Here are a few of the kids who weren't on the team, but whose families were there to support the league.
Just kidding of course! We spent a lot of time in Palmdale this summer because the UFLL 9/10 year old team won the state championship. Although Blake wasn't old enough to play All-Stars, that didn't stop us from driving hours to support our team. We went with a lot of families from the league and stayed at the same hotel as the team. It was a fun experience for our family. Of course I was too busy cheering and clapping and jumping up and down to take any pictures of the team, but we had more fun in the hotel lobby with all of the other families than anywhere else. I can tell you one thing for sure, that hotel staff sure was glad to see all of us go....I can't imagine the hotel lobby has never been so crowded before.

4th of July 2010

A token shot of the two of us just to remember the day
The big boys against the kids.... don't think that they let them win either.....
Justin, Aiden, Garrett and Blake

We're hoping these kids are friends forever!!!

Lexi and Jeramie... .don't you want to take her home? I know we do!
We spent the 4th of July at the pool with our neighbors and had a BBQ later in the afternoon with my dad and Yvette. Later that evening we went over to the Surrell's house and the kids played in the backyard before we headed to Bonita High School for the fireworks show.

Nuevo Vallarta

A rainy dinner at Tacos Break
The view from our lounge chairs
Tough guys at the foot of a 40 foot statue in the lobby
Lounging by the pool
We had an infinity pool on our balcony and they went in about an hour after we landed!
We went to Nuevo Vallarta in July and spent a week at the Grand Mayan. We swam and played on the water slide and went into the wave pool and met some nice people from New York and Seattle while we were there. We stayed on the resort property the entire time and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Mexico.

Allow me to catch up

Making rootbeer!
Cheers!
Rolling out the pretzel dough
Johnson's, Jackson's, Schultz's and Wiersma's at Brewbakers

The new first graders..... kindergarten had just ended weeks before

I am so incredibly behind on this blog... I never posted either one of the boys' birthday parties (in MARCH) or anything from summer or the first day of school for that matter. I will attempt to catch up through pictures of summer and then go back and add written details. We are busy, busy, busy, but having a lot of fun!

Who Inspires You?

I have had several instances this summer where I have been inspired.... by people, occasions, books, even memories..... I must say that it feels good to be inspired. I would have to say that my mom and my memories of her inspire me most. I believe that if she were still here on earth, she would be inspiring me on a daily basis with her love, her kind words, her generous spirit and her faith in God.

Today I am inspired by my husband who finds the good in everyone and everything no matter what the situation and challenges me a lot lately with the words, "This too shall pass." I find myself inspired to be a better friend than I have been before. I am in a season in my life when friendships have begun to change for a variety of reasons and I realize that this will continue to happen. I am enjoying my new friendships and find myself hanging on to the more cultivated friendships as well. I am inspired by my children.... to play and relax and just "be". I don't do that very well.... I am a multi-tasker by nature and have a difficult time slowing down the day to day pace of life.

Six years ago we lost my mom to breast cancer and our family has not been the same since that day. We have gone through so many changes, but each one of us understands that we are going to be okay.

My mom gave me a book after I had Aiden called Mommy's Locked in the Bathroom.... Surviving Your Child's Early Years with Your Sanity and Salvation Intact. It is hilarious and inspiring! My children were only 2 1/2 and 5 months old when my mom died and I had a lot of moments in those early years when I needed a break. My mom recognized that and this book was one of the ways she gently reminded me that I am not the only mom in the world who works part-time with 2 small children and a husband that travels (um... he was gone 2-3 days a week for six months when Aiden was born) Nevertheless, I needed some inspiration and I got it.

One of my favorite chapters is entitled Making a Joyful Noise and begins with Ephesians 5:19-20: "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything. "

Sometimes the noise in our home does not stop. We have two very talkative and social children who are the product of two very talkative and social parents. We have our fun moments of sharing as well as our angry outbursts just like any other family. There are days when I wish my name was NOT mom or mommy or mama or MMMOOOOMMMM!!!!! Overall, in our home of organized chaos, we are a family who loves the Lord, each other, and our family and friends unconditionally.

We are all inspired by someone or something today and I'm just wondering.... who inspires you? Are you inspiring someone? I sure hope that I am!

How "SUITE" it is!

The L.A. District: Casey, Michael, Jeramie, Matt and Carlos
Batter up!
My boys!
Blake is in his element here... binoculars and all
Sadie, Aiden and Blake... she is just as precious as she looks!
Jeramie had a District Meeting in a suite at Angel Stadium in May. The great thing about this meeting is that the boys and I were able to meet Jeramie at Angel Stadium that evening and watch the game. I can honestly tell you that I do not know who they played that night.. I did not watch one play during the game. I do know that "watching" a game from a suite is by all means the way to see a game (or just hang out if you prefer). The boys were in HEAVEN! It is always fun to hang out with our Medtronic Family.... the people that Jeramie works with are all really good friends and we always have fun when entire families come together for events.