Special Visitors

 We got lucky and got to have Gramsie and Brown Papa come and stay for a few days. We soaked in every minute we got with them. The kids had a great time just showing them things that they are excited about in life. Jaida wanted to take them to the mall and get a pretzel. It was a nice sunny day and so we had a great time.

 She also convinced her Papa to jump on the tramp with her. We miss having them close by us and we were so happy to have them as our guests.

Kite weather

We finally had some kite weather so Jaida busted out her kite form her friend Penny. She was so so excited and cute. The saddest part was that once she finally got the hang of it a huge wind came along and ripped the entire kite right out of her hand and it flew away. She was devastated and kept saying how "Penny was going to be so disappointed in her.

Camping in Crystal Cove

 Trent had been looking to camp at this spot for some time but the place was always reserved! On Wednesday he checked and it just happened to have an opening on Friday night. So we packed up our Suburban to the brim and made our trek south. We got a later start to our drive and then hit some traffic. When we got to our spot we were so excited! The view was incredible. The kids were in heaven. WE set up camp and then had our delicious dinner of macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes. Yum!

 We couldn't get enough of the beautiful sunset. Wow!

 We all got snuggled into our nice cozy tent and watched a little movie on our laptop. We kept toasty warm and loved hearing the sounds of the waves at night.

 In the morning we had breakfast and then packed up our stuff and headed down to the beach.

 It was a perfect day. Trent and the boys enjoyed body surfing and having fun in the waves. Jaida and Allie made sand villages.

 The boys came and dug a huge hole and were taking turns filling it up with water.

 Allie was having a blast chasing the birds everywhere. It was really cute. Perhaps the coolest thing of the trip was when we saw killer whales swim right by us.

It will be one of our most favorite memories. It was a lot of work to get there, but so incredibly worth it. We will be returning for sure, but this time for more than one night.

Paid off

 Hard work pays off! Our boys have been working hard and saving up their money to buy a dirt bike. I am not sure who was more excited though.. the boys or Trent. They came home from buying it and were all so giddy! They are looking forward to many fun times ahead!

My Lumps

Brock, you absolutely amaze me. You are so incredibly smart. You make people laugh and smile everywhere you go. People are just naturally drawn to you. They cling to every word you speak. You are so kind and caring. You want everyone to be loved and respected. You are so brave and strong, but you wear your emotions on your sleeve. You have a tender heart that because of your strength sometimes I forget that about you and then it shines through. You are good at everything and willing to try new things. Thank you for being my boy of extremes. You play hard, you love even harder! I love you Brock with all my heart!

Soaking up the summer

 So this summer was unique! We have been living in a rental home on Gibson Ave and the owners of the home decided to sell it. We tried to sell it while we were living there, but it was just so hard. I was having to have a clean home all the time. Plus we were trying to pack up and trying to have a fun summer all at the same time. Just not very fun all around. Our new rental wasn't available when we needed to be out by. So lucky us we got to move things into storage. The rest was going into a P.O.D. ugh.. which made this move seem to last FOREVER because it felt like it is all we did for a whole month. And since we were doing more of a gradual move, we ended up doing it mostly by ourselves. WE WILL NEVER DO IT THIS WAY AGAIN!!!

 Pierce is really going to miss our pool once we move. He was such a fish. I cannot believe how much my kids have improved just since living here. They all love the water and the boys are both incredible swimmers. Jaida and Allie have no fear when it comes to swimming. I was really so skeptical about having a pool, for the fact that I thought the coolness would wear off after just a few weeks. Not true at all, my kids never got sick of swimming and seriously spent as much time as I would allow them to be in there. It never got old for them.

 Allie, in true form has been a HUGE help with the move. Always making sure to unpack everything that we have packed. Can you tell by the look on her face that she is just trouble?

 Here is that crappy pod that turned out to be a pain in our sides! Should I share that? Maybe just so that it is documented. Not exactly a happy time in our lives! We packed up our pod and then headed out of town to Utah/ Idaho to be with family. Just two days into our vacation we got a call from Clovis Police that our POD was broken into and pretty much all things important was stolen. We were truly devastated. We really could care less about all the things that could be replaced, but the fact that our computer was stolen and our filing cabinet with all our personal info. That is what broke my heart to the core. I cannot explain the amount of anguish and just plain anger I felt. It took me about 2-3 weeks to get over that feeling. But then came the feeling of violation. There was someone that was just rummaging through my things. The worst feeling. Eventually our insurance replaced all the things that money could buy, but my heart still aches for our keepsakes, our pictures, our memories that cannot be replaced.

 Back to the summer... We took a much needed break from reality and went to lunch at Chick Fil A. Yum.. not much better than that!

 Gracie is also going to miss her pool. She has loved every second of being in that pool. She couldn't get enough of it and enjoyed being with the family in there. We will always cherish the memories made at the house on Gibson Ave.