Family Vacation

We wanted to take the kids to the beach at some point during the summer, so we decided to head down to San Diego the first weekend in August when Darren was on vacation from work. We left on Saturday late morning and the kids were so excited to get to the beach, that we checked in to our hotel and went straight there. We weren't exactly sure where we should go, so we drove down the coast until we found a good spot (or at least what we thought was a good spot). We found a close place to park and the kids ran to get in the water. The sun was beginning to set, we set up towels and beach toys, and started eating sandwiches that we stopped and got for dinner. I started looking around at the other people there and thought "hmmm... a lot of people brought their dogs". Then it dawned on me that we were at the DOG BEACH! Yuck! The kids were too happy playing in the water already to drag them somewhere else, plus the sun was going to be gone soon, so we decided to try not to think about pee-pee and doo-doo while we were eating, and watched very closely where we walked.

The water was pretty cold, so when they got out they were freezing. Look at Kate's face lol

build a bear

We took the kids to the mall to buy new OUTFITS for their current bears......

..........and walked out with 3 new bears

Birthday Boy

It is very hard to believe that it has been 5 years since I gave birth to my first child. Johnny has been such a blessing in my life and I feel so lucky to have such a sweet boy. He is always giving complements and is very sensitive to others' feelings. He can be a total boy too, and we have to remind him to not constantly joke about farting and private parts. He is always thinking and trying to figure things out and he loves to make people laugh by making jokes or trying to scare them. We love our Johnny boy.

We had his party at Chuck E Cheese this year. It was a super easy place to go. Although it's kind of hectic there, it is sure nice not having to clean up before/after a party. The kids loved it and that's what matters most :)

Little Kate looking so cute

Johnny and his good buddy Bryson 

His cute super mario cake

My parents, Vanessa, and James

It was literally the first time Johnny didn't FREAK OUT at the sight of Chucky. He kept bragging about the fact that he wasn't scared of Chucky and that he gave him a "high five"

The cute guests

                                                            Me and Steph

The "ticket blaster". The lady that put him in there forgot to explain how it works ( you have a minute to grab as many tickets as you can), so he just stood there playing around in the tickets as they flew by. We all had a good laugh.

The 3rd and 4th of July

The 4th of July is my second favorite holiday. Halloween is my number one. When the weather starts warming up I get anxious for the 4th of July festivities to hurry up and get here. The reason I love it so much is because it's an entire day of fun. It starts early in the morning and goes until late at night. I love waking up and going to a parade, swimming and barbecuing during the day, firecracker (bomb-pop) popsicles, patriotic colored clothing for the whole family of course, and a firework show at night. This year was a little different because the 4th was on a Sunday, so the parade was held Saturday morning. Kristen and Dave were great and saved us a place curbside for the parade. My parents and Vanessa even came. Summerlin puts on a good parade. Darren had to work, but the kids and I went to my parents' to swim and barbecue after that. They always have the best food and decorate like a department store for every holiday.

When it got dark my brothers busted out the, ahem, "illegal" fireworks. Lets just say there was a breeze that night and we had a few close calls.  We went to church on Sunday, and then to Linda's for family dinner. It was Johnny's birthday month so he go to help blow out birthday candles with the other July birthday people. They made a darling flag cake for the day. Then on Sunday night we headed out to Boulder City for their spectacular fireworks show. It was a fun weekend, but splitting it up into 2 days was a little different. It is always sad when the 4th is over. For me it's like the feeling you got as a kid when you finished opening up all your Christmas presents and then immediately realizing it would be another year until you got to do it all over again....

  

New babies!

This summer is very cool because both of my brothers became daddies! Austin and Morgan welcomed baby Brighton on June 18th, and James and Stephanie just had Jentry today! Babies and moms are all doing great, and we are so excited to see our extended family growing.

Brighton 

6-18-2010

Jentry 

7-28-2010

baseball game

At the beginning of June, Darren and I got to head back to California for a quick weekend to see his favorite team, the Braves, play the Dodgers. This was our second annual trip to LA to see the Braves play. Hopefully we can go to Atlanta sometime soon to see a few games there.

We bought tickets from a scalper in the parking lot (same thing we did last year), and got great seats again. It was fun to be so close up, but it was really, really hot because there was no shade. 

The Braves lost this time, but they are doing very well right now (they are in first place in their division) so Darren is a happy camper!

After the game Angie drove up and met us at our hotel and we went to a movie at the cutest outdoor mall. I think it's called the Grove. I wish the stores would have been open though! Oh well, guess next time can be a shopping trip!

We are very lucky to be able to go on weekend trips like this together. It is so nice to be just the two of us for a couple of days. 

Memorial Day

This year was the first year (that I can remember) that I actually spent Memorial Day visiting the cemetery. I guess it's because I don't have a lot of close relatives that have died. Both of my grandpas are dead, most recently my dad's father a few years ago. I was so sad when he died. Although we knew he was getting older and he wouldn't be around that much longer, it didn't make things any easier when the time came for him to leave this earth. It was hard to lose my grandpas and I know as I get older, death is something that will inevitably happen more and more. I feel lucky to have not experienced a lot of death in my life so far, but sometimes I feel like it could strike again at any minute. And I get anxiety thinking about "what if". What if I lost my husband, the love of my life? What if one of my parents or siblings die? What if I lose a child? It's a reality for a lot of people, and I am so sad for them. I don't have my kids every day of the week so I just have to trust that they are safe, and that nothing bad will happen to them when they are away. I know they are in good hands, but I still worry. When we were at the cemetery visiting Darren's dad's grave, there were little kid graves right by his. I walked over to look at them, and just seeing those little lives that were lost completely broke my heart. One little girl I noticed was born just 3 months before Johnny. She is gone now. The reality of it all just hit me and I started crying. I had to go get in the car because I couldn't think about it anymore. Darren lost his dad Glade about 8 years ago. Sadly, death has happened a lot more in his life than mine. He goes and visits his dad's grave all the time. Although we know our spirits live on, I think it is important to visit the graves of our loved ones. It is humbling to go and look around at all of the headstones, the green grass, and beautiful flowers everywhere. It is so peaceful there. You wonder who that person was as you walk by each grave. And you know that person had a family and friends that miss them every day. We can't control when death happens, but we can always remember our loved ones, and know that we will see them again someday. 

We drove up to Cedar City, Utah to visit our grandparents' graves. My grandpa is buried in Parowan, so we met my family up there on Sunday. We stayed at a cute bed and breakfast in Cedar.

Darren's grandpa was part-owner of a Lunt Motor in Cedar. His grandpa was his hero. I wish I could have met him.

In front of his grandparents' graves in Cedar

This was at the cemetery in Las Vegas visiting his dad. I wish I could have met his dad as well. People tell me he was a nice guy with a great sense of humor. I wish I could tell him how much I love his son and that he did a great job raising him.

 You can see in the background a group of people all sitting around in lawn chairs in a circle. It was pretty neat to see that they all spent their day sharing memories and stories of their loved ones. We all have different ways of remembering our loved ones, but I know from now on Memorial Day to me is more than a day off of school and work to barbecue and swim, and I look forward to visiting the cemetery each year with my family. 

Preschool graduation

The kids got to be in the same preschool class this year. Kate was so excited to finally go, after watching Johnny go all last year. They had the greatest teachers, Miss Sarah and Miss Sandra. They are so great with kids and have taught them so much. We have been very lucky these past 2 years. 

We will miss them!

They sang songs and had recited nursery rhymes. Johnny did Humpty Dumpty, and Kate did Jack and Jill.

Jules turns 10

Jules had her 10th birthday on May 17th. We had a cousins party at our house that weekend with pizza and a movie. Megan and Jonny, and Kari and Chris came too and stayed for the movie, which was very nice of them. We all had fun. Nobody was able to sleep over (which was sad for Jules) but maybe this summer we can have sleep overs for her.

Darren's mom Linda made the darling birthday cake

On her actual birthday, Darren and I took her to dinner. We told her she could pick anywhere she wanted, and Applebee's was her decision. Then we got her a little cake for dessert. Then I had my family over on Sunday for a little party. (Birthdays become more like birth-weeks these days).

She made sure to wish for something really good :)
I hope she enjoyed her special day!