Hershey Park - vacation day 2!

Andrea graciously offered to watch Bristol for us while we went to the park.  We don't mind taking her, but I have to say it was A LOT easier (and maybe more fun??) without her!  We had such a fun time.  Ally works at the park so we went and said "hi" to her on our way in.  After Scott was done with rock band camp, Andrea dropped him off and the kids had a great time hanging out in the park together.  We love our roller coasters!!

 Making sure she's tall enough for the big rides!

 Yeah, no problem!

 After a long, fun day!

 We had a good time with Scott!!

Friends and shattered windows....vacation day 1

We left Saturday afternoon and drove to Pennsylvania to stay with long time friends the Curtis family.  I first met Andrea and Ally when Ally was just a brand new baby almost 16 years ago!  They were in the NAVY like us and we hit it off and started running together, doing book club together and hanging out a lot.  I remember babysitting Ally one time while Andrea went somewhere.  She told me to make sure Ally finished her dinner.  I took that literally (I didn't have kids - I didn't know what I was doing!).  Ally had this chicken rice veggie bowl she was supposed to eat and she was so stubborn!  She kept the first and only bite she took in her mouth the entire time her mom was gone - over 2 hours!  I had NO idea what to do!  She seemed to eat her dinner better now :)

Sunday we went to their ward in the afternoon and came home and had a good dinner.  The kids were playing outside and the next thing I knew, the window we were just sitting in front of was broken!  I couldn't believe it!  We went outside and Tyler and Scott were just standing there and Brenalee was no where to be found.  The boys said she wanted Ally to come play with them so she decided to throw a rock at her window to come down... I guess I never taught her that you don't throw rocks at windows???  I thought it was just common sense...

I was HORRIFIED!  They just moved into this new, beautiful house and we broke their window!  I felt SO bad.  They were so calm and collected about it.  They were really a great example of how to show patience and love.  Brenalee hid behind the bushes for a good 30 minutes before she could come out and apologize.  I think she learned a good lesson she won't soon forget, about a few things! 

After that we were able to have some 'smores!  It was a perfect night catching up with friends.  We stayed up WAY too late talking!

Friends

Sunday afternoon Beth drove me to the Hurdsman's house.  My flight was early Monday morning and Theresa wouldn't be able to get me there.  I knew Dave & Jenn could help me.  We've known Dave & Jenn for a long time.  They moved into our ward in La Mesa a long time ago.  They are good friends and I'm so grateful to have such wonderful people to call on when I need help.  I know they will always be able to lend a hand!  Jenn fixed a super yummy dinner and we had a great time talking and catching up.  The kids are so big!  Monday morning came too early.  The alarm went off at 4:45am and were were out the door by 5:30am.  The airport was crazy!  The security line was so long!  I was glad I had plenty of time.  Then we were off, we flew to Austin, TX, first, then to Dallas, TX, then on to Raleigh.  I landed about 8pm and found the car and drove the 3 1/2 hours home.  Got home about 11:30pm and I was EXHAUSTED!  I'm grateful Bristol did well on the trip.  It was good to get home.

San Diego

Saturday afternoon it was off to Cuatro Milpas - I can't go to San Diego and not eat there.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE that place, I miss it so much!  They have the best food ever, hands down.

Then we headed out to Eastlake to do some shopping, I don't remember the last time I saw a mall that big, and Theresa said it wasn't even that big!

We also went to Little Italy and got some fresh pastas and sauces to take home for dinner.  Beth wanted to go get some cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes, so we went and got some of that too.  We sure did eat too much this weekend!!

Sunday we walked around Coronado a little bit.  It was SO gorgeous! This is at the Hotel Del Coronado:

 

 

I miss these Jacksonville neighbors SO much.  I have never lived in a neighborhood like I did with these girls! 

Friday Flashback

This Friday Flashback was taken December 24, 2010.  We had gone over to our neighbors house for Christmas Eve dinner.  Theresa made an awesome lasagna and we had a great night with our friends and neighbors.  Landon's helicopter went down in the Red Sea this past Sunday, September 22.  He was never found.  My heart aches for Theresa and their sweet little boys.  I can't stop thinking of them and the hard, hard road ahead. 

Brenalee, Tyler & Anthony (with Little Kitty photobombing)

One thing that makes me really sad is that for a few years now I've been really, really lazy about taking pictures, and blogging.  I don't have any pictures of Theresa and Landon - just Anthony.  We had all our Thanksgiving dinners together while we lived there next to them and this Christmas Eve dinner and saw each other nearly every day - and I don't have a single picture.  How is that possible?!  I'm going to be better about taking pictures. 

Stampin' Up! Convention!

I was so thrilled to be able to attend the Stampin' Up! convention this year!  I hadn't been able to go since July, 2007!  It was a blast, just like I knew it would be.

It was so good to see my good friends I hadn't seen in a long time!  Jenn and I spent way too much time talking into the wee hours of the morning when we should have been sleeping!  Oh well, that's what convention is all about!  And, that's what is so great about good friends - it doesn't matter how long it's been since you've seen each other/talked - you always have stuff to talk about!

 As usual there were thousands of crazy stampin' people there!

 Our fun group.  Can't wait for next year!

Brenalee's 5th birthday

My baby turned 5! We picked up our neighbor friends and went to a Chuck E. Cheese like place. That's all Brena wanted to do - go to Chuck E. Cheese. I don't get kids fascination with that place??!! But, I guess it doesn't matter. That's what she wanted to do and she had a blast.

We came home and opened presents and had cake and ice cream.

Lovin' her new eye glasses as she calls them.

Fashion Barbie!

Happy birthday to my special girl!

Friends

In July, we got lucky and had a visit from our good friends from Pensacola. Thanks Kim, Samuel, Nicholas and Julia for coming to visit us! We went to this indoor bouncy place. The kids had a great time. My kids loved it so much we went back the next week when my niece and nephews were in town. So much fun!

High School friends

One of the fun things I got to do in Colorado was get together with some of my best high school friends. We got to have dinner and talk all night. Well, I had to leave around 11pm, they stayed until the place closed at 2am!

This is us on graduation day - May 1996! From left to right: Valerie, Shandee, Mandy, Sarah and me.

This is Valerie and I in the 9th grade. I think this picture was taken in 1993, but I could be wrong. We met in cross country and hit it off right away.

And this was us on August 7. I had to crop Mandy out of the picture. Mandy is a model (and GORGEOUS!) but her hair is under contract...or something like that, so she can't be in any photos. You can see her in the first picture (graduation) above. Oh, and one other thing I forgot to mention, Mandy and Valerie are twins.

This is Sarah and I. We played basketball together. I have such fond memories of all these girls! It was so good to go out with them and catch up. I wish we could do it more often!

Sad Day

It's so hard to say good-bye. I think I should be used to it by now, but I'm not. I thought that because I was not moving, no one else should either. I will miss you Kendra! I will always be indebted to you for all you taught me! Good luck in all you do.

Not the best picture of us - but hey, it was early in the morning and you had just gone to bed when I came ringing your door bell! I hope you get to catch up on some sleep.

Virginia trip

Tyler was on Spring Break last week. A good friend of ours who we have known for 10 years now lives up in Virginia. I took the kids up to visit, T.J. couldn't go. It's a 10-hour drive through 5 states, but the kids did great. I was a little worried they would be screaming and fighting. It was a wonderful trip. We saw some sites around Virginia Beach. Then on Saturday we went up to Yorktown and were planning on going to Jamestown as well, but we ran out of time. I wanted to go to Williamsburg too - I guess we need to go back! So we just spent the day in Yorktown. We took the kids to the Yorktown Battlefield where they loved running up and down the hills, or rolling down the hills. I thought Brena was going to break her neck one time. It was a beautiful day. They had a really fun museum we went to where the kids got to see some cannons being fired off and a real farm from back in that time period. The kids really enjoyed helping the lady with her garden. Thanks Andrea for a wonderful trip!

Krispy Kreme

Yesterday the kids and I went with some friends of ours on a field trip to Krispy Kreme doughnuts (thanks Kim for a wonderful day!!). We got to take a tour of how the doughnuts are made, and then dip a doughnut in chocolate and sprinkles. As soon as the lady gave Brena her doughnut, she promptly took a bite of it :) She was supposed to dip it in the chocolate, and then eat it. But when someone hands you a doughnut, what do you do - you take a bite! I normally can eat me some Krispy Kreme doughnuts until I am sick, but I am very proud to say, I didn't eat one - not even a bite of the half of a doughnut Brena threw away! Look at the calorie count: 250 calories and 12 grams of fat - for one chocolate glazed Krispy Kreme doughnut!!!