Imagination is intelligence having fun.

We went back to pretend city with a few friends for Brock's b.day. My kids LOVE this place. They could spend all day here... and I feel like they should because its not cheap. :)

Fathers Day

Matt is a great father. He is good to wake up with the kids each morning and let me sleep in while he plays with them, and sometimes makes pancakes for them. When he gets home from work he immediately starts interacting with them and they love spending time with their Daddy. Mazzi is especially a Daddy's girl. Sometimes when he is holding her and I go to take her she will hit me and cling to her Dad. I am glad I married a guy who is so family oriented and who enjoys spending time with me and with the kids and who I know will always work hard to support us. Thanks for all you do Babe! We love you.

Ashton with "his Mazzi"

Tera and I in our matching aprons that my Grandma made. We were making Matt one of his favorite treats- Applesauce cake to celebrate his being such an amazing guy.

Fourth of July

Blest with victory and peace, May the heaven rescued land

Praise the power that hath made, and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

And the star spangled banner in triumph shall wave...

O'er the land of the free...

And the home of the brave!

Happy fourth of July 2010

I'm gonna miss this

We went out last night with some good friends to celebrate Clints 30th b.day party. These pictures are in totally random order... but it began at Wood Ranch where we surprised him and then we parted ways and re surprised him by meeting up at the bowling alley...

I always have such a good time with my friends... can't tell them how much I will miss them while we are gone TEMPORARILY for six months. I have to keep telling myself its temporary or I will become an emotional wreck... so we pray theres openings down in these parts when Matt finished the CHP academy.

It really is the people that make a place great. Lake Elsinore by itself is really just an ugly, somewhat- dirty, deserty town with no good shopping.... but we have made some of the best friends we've ever had down here and know they will be life long friends. Love you all and Happy b.day Clint! Good job planning Kim.... you guys are such a cute couple!

The girls--

We were in our own private bowling room where you could pay a dollar a song- sorta a rip off- but we did it multiple times... and the highlight of my evening was watching Matt, Rob and Clint dance together... hilarious! Meagan would have been so proud. We missed you Megs (yea, I called you Megs)



Kati and Kim won the dancing competition... not that there was one, but if there had been... they would have won! These two are always the life of the party.
And Kim and Clint are the funnest couple...
And we did a little couple shoot after dinner... such cute couples. We did a variety of poses- Serious, Silly and Sexy... I just posted my fave of each.
Kati and Todd
Natale and Jaime
Susi and Brandon- loved the sexy one but I'll let her choose if she wants it to be public...
I think this looks professional.... totally frame worthy. Kim and Clint
Robinsons- so funny.
Matt and I- so not photogenic that this is the only one I dare post...
Kara and Todd... these two crack me up. Its a treat whenever we get to see them!

And this is my favorite of the silly pictures. I am sure Vanessa is so proud of how good Josh looks :)

Right after Clint was SURPRISED!!

His birthday Ice Cream.

Thanks for a great night amigas and amigos... oh how we will miss you! Don't do anything fun without us... just sit there and wait for us to come back... deal? ha! Love ya!

What Q tips are for...

According to Mazzi.

This little one is full of energy, spunk and sense of humor. She will put a q tip in her nose and wait for me to tell her to take it out and then will run away from me giggling. She is a funny girl.

Changes...

Two years ago, when Matt was laid off from his job with Windswept, Matt applied to California highway patrol. He took his physical test, written test, his physchological test, a lie detector test and had multiple interviews. He passed all the test and we waited... and waited and waited. In the meantime Matt went through training with AAA and began working for them November of 2008. Matt would occasionally call his background officer to see how the process was going. We found out over eight months ago that he had was accepted and was just awaiting a date for the academy, depending on how the hiring went. We waited some more. For a while I thought of the CHP everyday when I would get the mail and would wonder when we would hear from them. But after two years I stopped thinking about it as much. Especially as Matt became more successful at his job and actually enjoyed it. Then, Friday I went to get the mail and saw a manila envelope with CHP on it. I called Matt immediately and he gave me permission to open it (I've never been good at waiting to open mail) I read him the letter telling him that he was accepted and that the Academy began July 26th and that he needed to tell them within 24 hours if he accepted or declined to attend. So our weekend was spent writing pros and cons lists, praying, fasting, thinking, thinking, thinking. We are both grateful to be able to have Heavenly guidance when making these kind of decisions. And we are also grateful that we both came to the same conclusion via the inspiration we received. So as of this morning- 10 am, Matt accepted his offer to attend the California Highway Patrol Academy. In the middle of July I will move down to stay with my parents in Redding while Matt attend the rigorous six months academy in Sacramento. In Redding I will get to see Matt on the weekends, which would not be a possibility if we stayed here and I will have the help of both Matt and my parents while my hubby is gone. We still have several details to work out- like what to do with our home, where the kids will attend school in Redding, informing my work and Matt's work that we will be leaving, changing vacation plans for summer, figuring out what the heck you pack when you leave for six months... but we are excited. I have always enjoyed change for some reason. We are hoping that after the Academy (assuming Matt passes :) Matt will be able to be stationed somewhere close to Elsinore so we can return to our wonderful friends. I really do love it here and it would be ideal to return, but I don't think we will know until the last month of the academy where we will be stationed so we are just making one decision at a time and dealing with one transition at a time. So wish us luck (especially Matt as he will get grilled every day!) in this new adventure!

Celebrating

Kim planned a fun girls night out to celebrate my 27th b.day (dang I am old!)

We met at her place and then they gave me spending money to go shopping at all of my fave stores. We went to TJ Maxx and Kohls andthen enjoyed a meal at Olive Graden where we had too much fun. I think we laughted os much that everyoien assumed we were consuimign the wine. But we didnt need it. Next we hit up the mall, where we took some awesome antique pictures and had fun posing adn riding escalators. Then a few girls took off and the other four of us went to ross where we tried on tons of clothes, gave advice- for a lenght y amount of time to a gradma trying on clothes and got quite a bit of clothes (mins megan who was disgusted by ross). We ended the night with frostys...

I think total I ended up with 7 shirts and 2 skirts. So fun! Here we are at the end of a fun night. I just love these girls! Thanks for celebrating with me!

Triple Didgits are here!

It has finally happened (later than usual thank goodness!)
The triple digit weather has arrived and we are already finding ways to pass the hot summer.
Between using our friends different pool areas.
..
and this some-what ghetto above ground pool we purchased... (so far one of the best purchases we've ever made- though I might take that back after getting the water bill) I think we will survive!

Oh Ashton...

Ashton is a funny kid. He makes me laugh daily. Here's a few of his latest.

When playing in the backyard he sawa big black bumblebee. You know, the HUGE kind. He came in frantically telling me about this ginormous bee. I told him taht I had seen that kind of bee before and that I wasn't even sure if they stung. To which he said, "there's only one way to find out. (pause) Send Tera out there and see if she gets stung. (followed by a sinister laugh)

Then another day Ashton asked,"Mom, whats the most powerful thing?"
Mom: (being a bit cheese and knowing it) Love. Like my love for you.
Ashton: Really? So if a POWERFUL volcano erupted and lava was coming you would just stand there and love it?
Mom- Nothing - what do you say to that?

When we were driving in the car I accidentally cut someone off. I quickly said "I'm sorry... I'm sorry."
Ashton looked at me like I was a total dummy and said "You know they can't hear you right mom?"

In many ways having Ashton around is like having a mini-adult around (one that throws random tantrums when they don't get their way) but for the most part- he's quite fun!