Babysitting

Friday, we headed down to San Marcos to spend some time with the Udas. E&M had a wedding to go to, so for about 7 hours we became responsible for 5 little bodies ranging from ages 4 months-12 years old. It was and adventure nonetheless and we had a great time. Erin already had an activity for us to go to,which included dinner, so that made our life easy. This month we celebrate Pioneer day. We went to a Pioneer day Jubilee! They had games/face painting for kids, food, contests ranging from successful gardens to best canned green beans, to best art and quilt displays. 

The faces of the gamers

The beggining of the Goldfish

Face Painting

 Carlsbad Firetruck ride 

The end of the Goldfish

 We started out with 4. We lost one at the party, it just couldn't handle the excitement. 3 made it home and into a fish bowl by 8:30. Evan texted Marc telling him we needed fish food because the kids insisted the fish were starving. We had to convince them that they had already been fed that day. We lost fish two and three around 9:40pm and Kai was excited that his "Bowser" was the sole survivor. Around 10:07 pm all three were laid to rest and given a very honorable "flush". They all died most likely due to the "Finding Nemo phenomena" {shaken fish syndrome}, pretty sure Trace fell at least 5 times with fish bag in hand.  They kids grieved for about 10 seconds and then moved on. Such is the life of a goldfish owner. Evan texted Marc we no longer need fish food. 

After everyone was showered, we decided to watch a movie. Since Mia was taking forever in the shower, we went on a Top Secret MISSION. The boys had to wear a disguise and were given clues on the way, to decode the name of the mission, "Helado." We pulled into the Ralphs parking lot and Kai assumed we were getting food for the dogs...but we told them "Helado" did not mean dog food..We walked into the store and headed down "Helado" aisle and they were so excited. I think they opened every freezer door as if the had never seen the ice cream aisle. Sigh, the simple things in life. Their happiness was priceless!

We love these kids! And had such a great time spending the weekend with them.

Some things are just Bittersweet

There's this place that we never knew existed. We had never even seen it on a map. We had never heard about its history or its beauty. Now we will certainly learn it! Because we are moving to:
Gulf Breeze, Florida

On a larger scale

We got the call Friday afternoon(7/20/12), but Kathy, the one in charge of hiring, said they knew last Friday afternoon right after they completed all the interviews, that they wanted Evan. She wanted to tell him on Monday and was so anxious to tell him, but due to some administration stuff, she had to wait until today. Very exciting moment for us!

We are so sad to leave our family. Being so close to them the past two years has been amazing. Watching the kids grow, Sunday dinners, movie nights, sporadic lunch/dinner dates, weekends with the Udas, overnighters with J&B, my Dad bringing me breakfast at work, cracking up and just being with Mom, being together during sad times and embracing the good times. We will miss EVERYTHING here! But we have been extremely prayerful about where we are suppose to go next. It has been a long process of waiting and waiting some more. The Lord guided us this way and we feel peaceful and extremely grateful for His guidance. 

Our world and its chaos

Evan asked me if I was surprising him and taking him to the midnight showing of Dark Knight Rises? I politely declined and said maybe another time. I don't want to deal with the midnight madness just for this movie {only for Breaking Dawn Part 2}. Now hypothetically, had we gone to see the movie here in Riverside,CA, we probably would've enjoyed it. Evan would've raved, like he was  Siskel or Ebert, that it was the best thing since sliced bread, we would've enjoyed the movie, the popcorn, my dill pickle and been just fine, only to be dragging our feet as we got up for work at 6 am this morning. Its the movies for heaven sakes! Why wouldn't we be safe? As I opened MSN news this morning I see that there was a massacre at Century 16 in Aurora, Colorado {not very good advertisement for them} during the midnight showing of Dark Knight Rises. Seriously though?!?! A massacre inside the movie theater!!!! I am kinda glad we didn't go now! Sorry Evs we might be waiting until this one comes out on DVD :\

Twelve people were killed and at least 50 others wounded early Friday when a gunman wearing a bullet-proof vest opened fire during a midnight screening of the latest Batman movie near Denver, authorities and witnesses said.

Many victims being treated in at least six hospitals were under 40, including a 6-year-old taken to Children's Hospital Colorado. The youngest person treated was a 4-month-old baby, who has been released. The oldest reported patient is 45.

Authorities said the gunman entered the theater through an emergency exit door had appeared at the front of the theater during the film and released a canister of tear gas. Witnesses told reporters that the gunfire erupted during a shootout scene in "The Dark Knight Rises". 

Friday's incident was the worst mass shooting in the United States since the 2007 shooting on the Virginia Tech campus, in which 33 people, including the gunman, died.

It was the deadliest mass shooting in Colorado since the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999. Students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, opened fire at the school in the Denver suburb of Littleton, about 15 miles west of Aurora, killing 12 classmates and a teacher and wounding 26 others before killing themselves in the school's library. {MSN.COM}

Dear 24 year-old, James Holmes,
 I don't know you, but your first impression, isn't impressing me. I am not sure what was going on in your head, but what was so horrible in your own life that you felt you needed to take others lives from them because of your instability, insecurities and selfishness? Unfortunately, you are still alive and didn't take the easy way out and kill yourself too, I guess that says something {maybe?} and you will now have to suffer the consequences of your actions..did you see the 4 month-old baby James?? Seriously what did she/he do to you?!?! I do not know your motive or goal. If your goal was to create more chaos and create yet another unsafe place for people to be in our world, then consider it goal accomplished.  Now every time those people involved, if they ever go to a movie theater again, the man dressed as if he was Batman to save the day, will haunt them and they will continue to relive this horrific event. As for the rest of us, we will be praying we live through a movie we paid $13 to see and hope its not our last moment. Thanks a whole lot James Holmes, you suck! 

A former FBI profiler, Clint Van Zandt, said it best, "James Holmes didn't just fall off a Turnip truck and decide he was going to do this. This was pre-planned. He had to buy the ticket, make the costume, get the gas, make sure he had a way inside, get the weapons..etc" 

Such is life, this is the world we live in. And it's sad.

Sunday Nap

We all enjoyed one of these! And it was refreshing! Sage & Jade are sure bed hogs though!

Saturday

We went to lunch with my Mom before she left for Oregon.

Then hung out at J&B house. While Evs and Josh worked on the trailer, we cut green beans and played magical carpet ride with an empty dog food bag. We had a good time!

I love this boy. I watched him meet his shadow today. He thought it was pretty neat. So did I.

The many faces of Rubi! Love this girl!

Today is D-Day

He has a phone interview today for the Andrews Institute, in Gulf Breeze, Florida, and I am so excited for him!! He couldn't have dreamed up a better place to get hired as a graduate to get his feet wet as an Athletic Trainer. I always have heard the saying, "When one door closes another opens," well, because he was the asked to interview at Emory, he was recommended by his Clinical Director, Professor Baker, to the coordinator at the Andrews Institute, which gave him this opportunity to interview. Here's to poise, articulation, and confidence! Good Luck Evan! I am so proud of you for your accomplishments. If it is God's plan for us, I trust and know, that is where our next journey will begin.

Event of the evening

While watching a movie, I saw something run across the floor by the tv. We stopped everything. Evs asked, "Was it a mouse?" I said," No. A mouse would be too big. Maybe a cockroach? I'm used to seeing those in Hawaii." We searched under the couch and eventually took apart the couch looking for the unknown creature. We found it behind the couch. I took the vacuum extension {seen on couch picture} and chased it Evs way. It came right for him! But ran under the couch. He cornered it under the table. My shoe definitely won! Result: looked like a brown recluse hiding front he heat or something. Glad we got one, but pretty sure I dreamt about dying from being bitten by another one that is hanging out in the house somewhere..uck...creepy.

Buddies

Watching Dance Mom's

                                            Part 1-Interested                                  Part 2-They don't care for Abby anymore

Geez, our world

Seriously?!?! I am not sure if this is really true but either way, its pretty sad whoever is behind this for whatever reason, to make Obama look bad or whatever their motive.

Heat Wave

"That giant heat wave baking the eastern 80 percent of the United States is moving west, into the Inland Empire region of California, National Weather Service forecasters said today.

http://www.swrnn.com/2012/07/08/heat-wave-hovers-over-southwest-riverside/

'The high pressure that’s causing the heat back across the Midwest and the East is migrating westward, so we are looking at our temperatures warming up over the next few days, especially across the inland area,' said Cynthia Palmer, forecaster at the NWS San Diego station.

Hot weather and triple-digit temperatures were expected early this week for most of the Inland Empire".

I pretty much just stay inside the entire day and only go outside if I have to. I could live in Baker where it is 122 degrees..good thing I don't huh?

UNSUNG HEROES

So PROUD to be the wife of an Unsung Hero

WEEKEND

Saturday we visited with Grandpa and we got him up and exercising. He did leg and arm exercises and we even got him to walk a little bit {his reward was he got to get back into his chair and watch South Pacific} He is frail and his memory is fading. It makes me sad to see his physical body die, his language become limited, but I am glad I still get to see his smile. 

We always have so much fun when we go to Mom's for dinner. Ru and I played in the pool to cool off. I called her Ariel and she called me Eric {I told her my name wasn't Eric but she insisted..I told her she must call me Makiki or I wasn't going to play anymore..she settled for Queen Kiki..I was totally fine with that}. We just hung out watched some movies, ate some dinner, rested, oh and sang Happy 25th Birthday to Jenny as a family!

Jade enjoying the cool floor

Cole enjoying the dogs pillow

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNY!

After everyone else left, Evs and I stayed and hung out with Mom and watched Bringing Down the House. That movie is hilarious!

H-A-P-P-Y F-O-U-R-T-H O-F J-U-L-Y USA

Most of my siblings all met at my parents {in Nuevo,CA} for the traditional, "SMALL TOWN PARADE". We were pleased with the parade this year, even though it lasted only 15 minutes. There was more candy, more floats, and less dancing horses. It was fun to watch Rubi & Coles expressions with all the candy and with the horses. I even tried to fool Ru into picking up the horse poo, but she is no dummy and said, "Auntie Darcy that is POO not candy!" That will show me! Afterwards we went to the little town fiesta, which was more like a swapmeet with a petting zoo, some hot dogs & nachos, and some games. We dug out of there real quick. My Dad helped us fix some stuff on my car and because it was later in the day we just decided to hang out with my parentals. Mom cooked the best hot dogs and some BBQ chicken, corn, and beans. She even put out the kiddie pool {which was perfect enough to just wade in the water} so I could enjoy a day in the sun while we chit chatted. Evan and I headed into town to find a fuse we needed to replace and we rented 3 movies, two of which we watched with my parents, Big Miracle & Chronicle. We made it home and are now exhausted and will be dreading having to get up for work tomorrow.

{photos by: jenfallanphotography.com}

Happy Independence Day AMERICA!

A Stubbs Saturday

Friday after I got home from camp, we headed down to San Marcos. All of Evan's sisters {one lives in Henderson, NV and the other San Carlos,CA} were visiting this weekend for our nephew, Jake's birthday celebration. Its been some time since all of them have been together at one time. We enjoyed a day at the beach with sand, sand crabs, cold water, good sun and good boogie boarding waves. We had a blast!

B.O.O.T camp

I spent the last week in Big Bear, CA. Snuggled with my husband? No. Swimming in the lake with my husband? No.  Walking my doggies? No. Corralling 103 teenage girls? YES. I was called to be the assistant girls camp director for church. For the last 4 months, my co-pilot Deanna and I, have been planning, organizing, and preparing for the last week. I have to say, I am pretty pleased with how everything went down. We got great feedback from the girls and other leaders for our timely organization and well planned activities and speakers. It was a lot of work, but well worth it. Our theme this year was B.O.O.T camp (Build on our Testimony of Jesus Christ). Everything was army themed. Each A-frame was a different country and they were responsible for decorating their A-frame to represent the country. The older girls, in charge of helping plan were the USA. The spirit at girls camp is always so beautiful. I appreciated being able to be around so many girls that were going through so much. High school is rough and when you struggle with standing alone, it really makes life that much harder. Many of the people we had speak to the girls, spoke about testimonies, about being "all that they can be", but on so many different levels. Some spoke about being a missionary, one spoke about personal trials in their life and how trials make you stronger. One spoke about a Bee. And how hard a Bee has to work to fly because their wings are too small for their body, but they do work and they work really hard." When the world gets you down, know that with the help of Christ you can 'Bee' all that you can. It was all very wonderful! We went to the Lake one day. We had a pretty awesome Obstacle course day, which included a rock wall and team building games. One afternoon we had each cabin act out a skit which involved random items that they received in a bag. They had to either wear or involve the item in their skit. They got creative and there were some pretty funny skits! One night we had the older girls (this was their last year) do a fireside. They each had to choose a scripture hero from the Book of Mormon or the Bible. They had to talk about the war that hero fought and how they overcame that war. Also how could they relate and how did they overcome it. It was a very spiritual night and I appreciated the girls strength and courage in sharing their experiences. As a service project, each girl wrote multiple letters of strength, courage, and comfort to missionaries serving in the stake, to veterans, and to those currently deployed.

{Paris, France A-frame-this cracked me up!}

Deanna Reid and I (Pilot and Co-pilot) we had a blast!

I love camp because it allows you to look outside yourself and serve others. A friend from down the mountain, Kristen Meza, baked me these cupcakes just because. The girl below broke her foot right before coming to camp but she really wanted to come. This other girl helped her get around. Love SERVICE!

We had so much fun! And grew so much! I loved watching the girls light shine! 

Camp song: Nephi's Courage (Armies of Helaman)

{side note: listening to these girls sing this song together just brought me to tears it was so powerful}

Camp Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:3 

On the very last night its tradition for the older girls, whose last year it is, be taken on some late night adventure. Well the entire week some of our girls were less than involved with the camp and we just weren't sure if they quite deserved it. But we piled them in the car with one stipulation, they had to wear an item that was brought for the skits. They played along nicely. We piled in the cars and drove. There werent many fun places open at 10pm in Big Bear, CA as everything closes pretty early. They were convinced that we were going to Denny's because every group goes there. Well we drove passed Denny's searching for a gas station. We wanted the girls to think they only earned a soda from a gas station haha-evil-we stopped at a 7-eleven and got them Slurpees. Then we acted like we were heading home but actually headed to Denny's. They were so excited and were so wired I felt horrible for anyone in that restaurant. Needless to say the girls had fun and we were glad to leave them with good memories. 

 It was the 100th year of Girls Camp so we decided a way to honor it would be to write 100 blessings that we have received or receive from girls camp. PRICELESS LOVE!

 We did it! We made it through CAMP!! We are tired and ready for a long nap! But it was an amazing experience!