Boat day!!

With a husband that is attractive and smart, I am so grateful that his strong genes came through for our children. Every once in a while I love seeing an attribute in them that is so me. Like "National Boat day." My son told his swim team coach that they needed to honor this holiday with boat races at practice. She called his bluff so he strapped the boat to the van and took it to school. He is my kindred spirit in tomfoolery. Bless this coach and my teachers who believed (or were also willing to entertain my own personal amusement) National Candle day, that I was on the wrestling team and that I was an ASL interpreter for my friend... just to name a few. I really should substitute teach in high school just for penance. Three cheers for a Dad who helped attach the boat and for marrying a girl who is fun size.

UCLA and Carpenteria, October 7th

For spring break we went to California to play on the beach with friends and visit Beryl at UCLA. She was so sweet and treated our whole family for lunch on campus. We got to tour her dorm and check out the beautiful campus. It was lovely! It is no wonder it is the # 1 public University in the USA (that's whet all the banners said ). Benjamin and I sported our UCLA shirts that she bought us when she visited us in the summer. She is thriving there, she has been involved with research projects and was part of a publication. We love watching her success and miss her!

After our visit with Beryl we headed up to Carpenteria State Park. We camped on the beach with the several Whetten families and the Butler family. The water was cold but that doesn't stop the kids or Benjamin from jumping in. I had to talk myself into it, but once I got in had a blast with the boogie board. Benjamin and I went on a couple runs and some strolls down their beautiful shopping center. When we were leaving we stopped at the local candy store, everybody bought something. Last night Benjamin finally finished his jaw breaker...9 days later. of course he didn't suck it for 9 days straight just a little each night...I could never do that! Unfortunately Bella didn't have the time off so she took care of the house, that was a huge blessing for us.

Some September pictures..

 Parkin dressing up for crazy day at school....we are just glad he didn't shoved into a locker..

 Anna getting an award at school!

 

21 years.... September 2019

I have officially been married longer than I have been single.   This year for our anniversary we went up to Sedona to do some hiking. We went on three hikes. They were all gorgeous. Two were to caves and one was to a river that we could cliff jump into. The river was freezing which was a good thing because the hike was so hot. We stayed at Benjamin's co-worker's guest house, Richard and Brenda in Sedona. They were so thoughtful, they left treats, Martenills, and a lovely happy anniversary sign.

This is a picture of our engagement photo and 21 years later..

The first bird leaves the nest.....August 23rd 2019

How did 18 years go so fast... Just dropped our oldest off at her dorm. It brought me right back to her first day of kindergarten. Bella had a friend who was in a different neighborhood so she was supposed to go to a different school but her mom registered her to go to Bella's school. She knew if her daughter had one true friend that her shy daughter would have a good experience. Last night Bella got a text from someone she met at the U of A orientation a couple of months ago, asking her to meet him at the science department mixer, knowing that if he had one friend he would have fun. Walking into the dorm today a fellow freshman said hey are you looking for new friends too?! My outgoing, smart, friendly and good looking daughter (she's like my brunet twin) will be just fine.

At Benjamin's UofA graduation 15 years ago.

The siblings take in one more swim while their sister still lives at home..

One more sunset on the balcony while she lives at home...get the idea :)

luckily she is only 20 minutes away!

Ohhhhh Mexicooooo

Sharon and Scot Bell invited us to go with them to their vacation property in Mexico....we were so excited to go!! We have never traveled to Mexico beyond Nogales or on a pit stop from a cruise ship. The Bells's place is amazing. It is oceanfront property. Close to an estuary perfect for jet skis. The Bells also brought down the quads and we drove those around. We buggie boarded, hunted for shells and dove off sound cliffs into rolling hills of sand. It was so lovely and relaxing. The Bells also hosted Sharon's brothers family, and their daughter Brooke and her kids were there too. This place is BIG. There were plenty of kids to entertain our kids and plenty of beds. We rotated kitchen and cooking duties and even made it into to town for authentic food. We were in heaven! The Bells are basically who Benjamin and I would like to grow up to become, friendly, kind, the belief that there is always room for one more, optimistic and treats others like family... It was a great weekend. We didn't run into any problems going south of the boarder so we gotta go again!

"Oh, Mexico
It sounds so sweet with the sun sinking low
The moon's so bright like to light up the night
Make everything all right"

First Day of School August 2019

First day of school pictures. August 1st 2019 How did the summer go by so fast?!

                                                                 Parkin 7th grade

Holman Freshman year

Olivia Junior year

Adrianna 4th grade

Bella will be a freshman in a couple of weeks... Only 4 kids at school right now, the last time that happened was 6 years ago. Time flies!