We Love Yosemite!

Last month we took the kids to Yosemite for the first time.  I have a great uncle and aunt who live in Sonora.  We visit them often and they don't live too far from Yosemite, so this last visit we decided to take a day trip to the gorgeous sites of Yosemite.  I hadn't been since I was about 12, but the memories from my childhood trips were fresh in my mind that day.  I fell in love with that place all over again.  What's not to love?  It's absolutely beautiful!!

Lizzie did great and hiked most of the way on the Vernal Falls trail.  We had to stop at the bridge because that was as far as a stroller could go.  Next time we HAVE to remember our backpack carrier.  The weather was perfect, not too cold or hot and the Fall colors were amazing.  Todd wants to go again in the Winter, so we may get to see yet another season of Yosemite.  I always went in the summer as a kid.  No matter when you go, there is something so magnificent about the place I imagine that even the worst weather conditions couldn't keep it from being an amazing vacation spot.

Football Fun

Last night the Huskies finished the regular season with a sad loss to James Logan High.  We still had a great season with a 5-1 record and will for sure go on to the playoffs.  It has been fun with all the family in the stands, especially all the little kids!  They have been such troopers sitting through all kinds of weather, some very long games and some very loud games.  With the help of some snacks on hand, they made it through.  Their reward?  After every game, the kids would get to run (or crawl in some cases) all over the football field, chasing and even tackling one another.  It has been a blast to watch them!  Here a just a couple of pictures I got of Lizzie, Ashlyn and Madison, all wearing their Daddys' old numbers from when they were Husky football players years ago :) 

(Tiff, if you read this, would you mind sending me more? Thanks :)  You got the BEST pics of ALL the kids)

"Pretty School" as Lizzie calls it

Lizzie's First Day of Preschool

She absolutely loves going to preschool and I love how much she is learning!  It's so fun to see her recognize letters and numbers on store signs or street signs or wherever we go.  It's awesome to see her interact with other children too.  The conversations that go on between 3 & 4 year olds is absolutely priceless!  I'm so glad she enjoys it and hope her love for school will carry on throughout the years.  Next school year she will be enrolled in preschool, but which preschool has yet to be determined.  If anyone can recommend any, we're open to suggestions :)

Busy Busy Busy!!

We sure have been busy these last couple weeks.  I wish I could say it will slow down soon, but no chance of that. This is literally the 3rd time I have started this post!  Max started crawling a couple weeks ago and made me realize that while my home is child-proof it isn't very baby-proof.  He also got his first tooth!

We have been busy re-organizing our place yet again!  Both kids have grown out of many of the clothes in their drawers so it was time to put them into storage to make room for their current size clothing.  Whew!  What a job that was. 

Lizzie started preschool.  It's two other moms and myself on a rotation of teaching lessons twice a week.  She loves it but she think it's called "pretty school" :). 

I recently applied to a teaching credential program and have been busy gathering the necessary documents for that, plus substitute teaching about twice a week.  I even have a couple of jewelry shows lined up for the end of this month!  As much as I would have loved it, I am glad I decided to turn down the offer to help coach cross-country this season. 

Todd's football team started league so we are in the middle of football season, which is ALWAYS a busy time for the whole family.  We are 2-0 for regular season so far (a lot better than our pre-season record of 0-4)  Everyday before football he has stayed steadily busy with work at the apartments too.  Oh and he applied to Chabot to take a full load during the Spring semester.

I'm sure I am forgetting a few more things that have added to the chaos that is our lives, but we love it all.  I am just grateful for family and for the fact that we are able to do most of these activities together!!  We have managed to squeeze in some fun family outings which I will be posting shortly!

GLEE!!!

The new season of Glee begins exactly one week from today!!!

I don't even know where to start.  Our family is OBSESSED with the Fox tv show, "Glee".  I think it is the best thing on tv in a LONG time.  For those of you who haven't yet seen an episode, you are seriously missing out.  It is so fun to watch and even though I am a horrible singer, we absolutely LOVE singing along to all the songs from the last few seasons at home and in the car.  We each have our favorite songs.  Yes they are all cover songs, but just listen for yourself and you'll agree the Glee version sounds so much better for the most part. 

They have had guest appearances from Kristin Chenoweth & Idina Menzel of the original "Wicked" cast, who are absolutely amazing! The new season will have even more guest appearances by other talented singers as well. The lead actress Lea Michele, who plays Rachel on Glee is incredibly talented.  To quote my sister-in-law Jana, "I would kill to have her voice, not literally, but you know what I mean." The whole cast comes together really beautifully.  I was updating my playlist (see below) and found that they had a ton of glee songs which I now added.  So please, enjoy!!

FINALLY!

After nearly a year we finally have Internet!  I know I could have posted on my blog from other people's computers but I either would forget my camera to add pictures or alright alright no more excuses.....I will try to be a better blogger now.  Before, I just felt pathetic for having a blog that I never posted on, but after reuniting with many relatives who live very far away, a new feeling emerged.  GUILT! 

After my sister's wedding we had a big family BBQ.  The subject of blogs came up (not from me of course, I'm not that stupid).  All of sudden it was mentioned by one of my favorite people that it makes her sad that I never post anything because she never knows what we're up to/how we're doing/what my kids look like these days.  Everyone at the table chimed in with similar sentiments and I felt my cheeks getting hot. 

If keeping up with my blog for myself isn't motivation enough, then I will consider all of my friends & family members who actually care and even look forward to seeing my blog (and are immediately disappointed when they view it and see I haven't posted anything since February...it's September)

My goal will be to post something at least once or twice a week, depending on how cool our lives are at the moment.  I will also take special requests from anyone (within reason) in order to keep things flowing.  A special thank you to those who continue to check my blog every month or so in hopes I finally posted something.  It gives me hope for myself : )

Love you all!

The Flower Girl

My sister is getting married in July and Lizzie is going to be the flower girl.  This was taken a few months back when we went dress shopping.  She was so funny. She kept doing all these poses in the mirror (no one told her to either) and the funniest part was we could not get the dress off of her.  She refused to take it off and ran from anyone who dared to try.  Only 2 years old and already a diva?  Boy do I have my work cut out for me!