Matts new hair do...

Matt shaved his head to enter the CHP academy... but he did it in stages. When he shaved a line through the middle of his head I laughed so hard I peed my pants. When he came downstairs to show the kids his new hair do Ashton said "Dad you look hideous and creepy."
Matt then went upstairs to finish shaving it off completely.
I must admit I was terrified. I thought he would look a bit ridiculous... but he has a pretty nice shaped head. Mazzi didn't get used to it before he left and didn't want to go to him as much. After Matt showed Ashton how it looked when it was all the way shaved we thought he would respond better. He didn't. He said "no one is ever going to marry you again Dad." We laughed pretty hard about that comment.

Matt and his parents.

Love you babe... best of luck!

See you in six months party...

Before we took off to Redding, Kim threw a little "Goodbye for Six months" party for us. It was nice getting together with friends.... but I did get emotional saying goodbye- even though we are quite certain we will be heading back that way. I just love my friends and love that my children are making such good friends. There's no place like home!

Dodgeball...

Before we left good ol" Lake Elsinore we jammed in a few more nights of fun! We went out to dinner with several good friends and then a few of us who didn't have to take off went to play some dodge ball. We got some good action shots. (These must have been taken before the Chalkers joined us)

Here's the Hackers getting ready to race for the ball

Kim and Clint. "Bring it!"

My fave shot of the night- throwing in unison!

I love this picture of Matt trying not to get kicked by Rob. Rob is a very aggressive dodge ball player and nearly broke Matt's foot. ON PURPOSE. What a jerk. That is all I am going to say about that. (Hoping you can sense my sarcasm)

The Chatums were quite the pair. Don't let Susi's sweet little smile fool you... she is vicious!

Oh yea- it was that intense! By the end of the night sweat and tears were flying everywhere... or maybe just sweat.

And there was no mercy given to the girls.... we had welts to prove it!

We'll definitely have to do this again sometime in comfier clothes that don't show the sweat... and with even more people!

Goodbye slumber party...

Tera had a slumber party with some of her best girlfriends a few days before we took off to Redding. My friend Kim did a boys slumber party at here house with Ashton, Kade, Brandon, Brock and Daxton. They had a lot of fun and not a lot of sleep. It is something I decided I only have the energy to do once a year... but they sure were cute!

Here's the whole crew of cuties. McKenzie, Kara, Kelly, Tatum, Tera (and Mazzi trying to squeeze in and be part of the party)

Tera and McKenzie did each others "makeup" they thought this was so funny.... I didn't think it was very funny as I spent a good half hour scrubbing the lipstick off their faces... but seeing the pictures, it was definitely worth it!

They enjoyed baking a lemon cake with me.

Matt made the girlie's all pancakes for breakfast-and decided we shouldnt have four more girls!

And it was quite interesting seeing five girls brushing their teeth together and each of them going potty- a few times each. I have never seen so many splashes on my mirror at once. It made the OCD mother in my cringe.

The girls enjoyed a dance party out back all dressed up

We painted their nails pink and sparkly.

And they enjoyed a dip in the pool.

Tera sure will miss these girls. They have a lot of fun together and she will be anxious to get back to them!

Neilsens... I hate goodbyes

Upon moving to Corona from BYU Idaho, I had the usual worries that one has when their moving to a new locating and starting completely fresh. Making friends, transitioning, finding friends for my kids, etc. Luckily, Matt had met Scott before we moved through a job fair at school so we already had a connection there. The first day I moved to Corona Michelle knocked on my door. I immediately knew I would be okay in this new part of the world and all my worries disappeared. The Neilsens and us became instant friends and spent a lot of our spare moments together.

There began to be fewer and fewer spare moments as Michelle began working more and was applying to go to graduate school, and as Scott was studying for his test to get into Graduate school. But I will never forget eating Sunday dinners with them, (their homemade pizza is the best) making trips to the hot tub (where Michelle would avoid getting in because she would break out in a rash) I remember trips to Costco and splitting the yogurt and cereal boxes. I remember Scott helping Matt put together our desk, taking trips to the beach, having family home evenings together. I remember when Michelle announced to me that she was pregnant after years of trying. How happy I was for her; how emotional I am now writing about it. Then I remember helping them move to Irvine so they could go to school. I was so sad. I knew we would still see each other.... but its not the same as being neighbors. They had become like family. They lived in Irvine/Newport area for three years and we will treasure all the times we have got together with them up there and their visits down here.... and will never forget the free Mexican Rivera cruise from a few years ago. Matt still got to see Scott at work for a while after the move- I think that Centex will always hold a special place in his heart because of the all the fun he had there with the friends he worked with. However, as the housing industry fell apart, they both lost their jobs at Centex and found work elsewhere. Since then Scott and Michell had have had three beautiful girls and I love to see them with their children, they are amazing parents.

Now the Neilsen family of five are beginning their adventures in Utah and how California will miss them. They are a beautiful family. Michelle has taught me much by her example of righteous living and her desire to be good. I adore her and am glad we will be lifelong friends. I will always look forward to the times our paths cross :) Love you Michelle!

Sadly- this is the only picture we have together....

Wilderness Rafting

We had an AWESOME time on our second annual (I hope) rafting trip down the Kern river.
Thanks to our fabulous friends the Ferguson's for putting it all together and Josh for being a great guide.

Here's our group getting ready to get on the raft... Josh, Chatums, us and Hackers. Side note- we have really fun friends.
The girls- Meagan, Susi and I.

The boys after the rock slides- Jon, Josh, Seth, Matt, Rob, Brandon, Eric.
The gals- Jamie, Carly, Susi, me, Vanessa, Heather and Meagan.
Going down the rock slides. This was a lot of fun- though a bit painful :)
Matteo
When Matt slipped and fell I couldn't stop laughing. I am such a nice wife :)
Getting ready to go


While the first groups were going we entertained ourselves having random photo shoots. This is one of the only good pictures.

Hiking up to the rock slides. It was HOT! We were all excited to get in the cold water.

Me and Vanessa

The whole gang. It was a lot of fun. We feel blessed to have some awesome friends who do awesome things like this!

Batman crew

Ashton dressed him and the girls all up in his different batman pajamas and then they did sword fighting on the bunk bed. It was quite adorable.

Cute