Oregon Reunion

The original "Brady Bunch"

“Siblings: children of the same parents, each of whom is perfectly normal until they get together.” 
― Sam Levenson

Added this adorable bunch 

“We are a noisy and blessed little family” 

― Nancy E. Turner

Which led to this Crazy Bunch!

“You are born into your family and your family is born into you. No returns. No exchanges.” 

― Elizabeth Berg, The Art of Mending

Sisters

How do people make it through life without a sister?

The beauty of simplicity

{photo credit: Jen Fallan photography}

{Photo credit: K.Ritchie Photography}

{Photo credit: B.I.G Photography}

Love and attention make all things grow -Chinese Proverb

Oregon Adventures

This was the summer all of us siblings ventured up to Oregon and visited for a week with Jess,Chad, the kids, Corey, Martika, and the twins. Our week was full of maybe one lazy day. We did just about something everyday. So many great memories!

Me & the dogs hitched a ride with J&B and kids.We drove up to Fresno to visit with Britts cousin to help break up the drive a bit. The dogs did pretty well on the drive. They slept most of the way and were most comfortable when I fell asleep and then they jumped on my lap and fell asleep. They had to share a kennel for space purposes. Evan was so great and worked for me so that I could spend more time with my family. I flew him up mid-week.

The kids played outside alot. They were always in clothes, then in their bathing suits, then back in clothes..there was also some rat killing in the barn going on for the older more mature crew..

A day at the Broken Dam. Water was cold, but the sun was warm and bright.

 A day at the indoor aquatic center.

Hanging out enjoying the beautiful weather. Eating lunch and dinners outside.

The ladies had a day out. We went school shopping for the kiddos, had a nice lunch at Olive Garden, and got pedicures. It was a nice quiet afternoon out. Loved spending time with my sisters and Mom (we missed you Jen).

The guys also had their own day going drop line fishing on a big boat. Seemed to have a good time!

Off to the Zoo with all the kids!

More Zoo!

Charlotte turned 8. Jason and Charlotte were baptized on the same day. Glad we were able to be there for that. We went to Hometown buffet afterwards. And then headed to Claires to get Charlotte's ears pierced. 

Gotta love this crazy bunch. There are so many of us now. We headed home Sunday after a great week together. Ev & I rode home with J&B and crew. We stopped in Sacramento for the night and continued our journey the next day. It was a long drive and I can't say I will ever want to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked thanks to Rubi. She really likes that movie. So thankful to J&B for carting us around. So thankful for my family. 

August 4th, 2012-August 12th, 2012 a great week to remember!

Pretty crazy stuff

Growing up in Nuevo, CA nothing ever exciting or disastrous ever happened, which is certainly not a bad thing. On Sunday, a tornado touched down in the small little town, population 7,000. Probably the craziest thing that has ever happened to the little town. It has caused a huge mess, with many roads closed and has left one very detoured way to get to the freeway. Glad that homes weren't destroyed or people injured. It could've been worse. Ironically, unless you live in Nuevo or heard it on the news, the surrounding cities had no clue what happened to the little ole town.

London Olympics 2012

USA takes the Olympic GOLD!!

USA Women's soccer beats Japan in the finals!

Score:
USA-2
Japan-1

Florida move Part 1-our life in a storage unit

Farewell to our 676 sq foot, little yellow house on Lime St. in Riverside, CA, where the ginormous hedges stole the role of the, should've been white picket fence. 

We were only here a short 6 months, but we have many memories. Packing up was never-ending or so it seemed. From the time I found out he got the job, I immediately posted our big things on Craigslist to sell because I knew we had a week and a half to move out {didn't make sense to pay rent for August since we wont be there most of it and Evan leaves at the end} and get our stuff in storage and trash the stuff that didn't make the cut. Evan worked hard all last week trying to get stuff organized. We had a yard sale on Saturday and sold some stuff but didn't sell our Pub table and chairs, washer and dryer or fridge, which all take up a lot of space in a 10 ft storage bin. Josh and Evan loaded all the big items we were taking and put them in storage. We had refrigerated & frozen food all over the kitchen and finally gathered it and took it to my parents. Really no one likes moving, it just has to be done. Things I wish I could change about the move- that the small things wouldn't annoy me, that the mound of stuff and boxes didn't seem to be getting smaller stressed me out, and that Evan and I, who hardly get in disagreements, had way to many tiffs about nothing really, it was pretty annoying. I said, "fetch" way too many times and I was quick to frustration. By the end we were both pretty spent. All the odds and ends were shoved in any spot that was found. We got to my parents house by 9:30pm and the dogs were so excited to be at Grandma's. We unpacked and finally ate dinner around 10:30pm. Since Evan leaves at the end of the month, we are staying with my parents and then I will be staying with my parents until its my turn to head to Florida. 

Such tired puppies. 

Moving is so hard. 

In fact we had to take apart their kennels and stack them to even fit them in the car. 

I am so glad we have this opportunity. We have truly been blessed. And with all blessings things aren't always easy along the way, but they are sure worth it.

2 movies-1 screen

Between packing and moving and packing and working and moving, Evs and I have been so busy that we haven't had much quality time together where were not talking about the details of the move..etc. He has been wanting to see The Dark Knight Rises, but after the whole Aurora, Colorado Century 16 massacre, I haven't exactly been wanting to go inside a movie theater and watch it, even though I am just being over dramatic. Nonetheless, we decided to take a break and go to the Van Buren Drive-Inn and watch a double feature. We grabbed some Chinese take-out, a big drink from 76 station and got comfortable with our blankets and pillows in the trunk of the Scion TC. We watched Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spiderman. Even though we didn't get home until 2 am and I had work at 7am it was well worth it to have some calm time and I actually stayed awake for both of them, which is a miracle in itself.

What we do

Today consisted of watching (most of) the opening day of group play for the Olympic Women's Soccer just about..almost..all...day/night. 

USA vs France 

Score: 4-2 

Win: USA

Japan vs Canada

Score: 2-1

Win: Japan

UK vs New Zealand

Score: 1-0

Win: UK


Cameroon vs Brazil
Score: 5-0 (OUCH tough break)
Win: Brazil

Columbia vs North Korea

(game started 65 minutes late thanks to the displaying of South Korea's flag on the jumbo-tron--smooth move London)

Score: 2-0

Win: N.Korea

TUNE IN..ITS ACTUALLY VERY ENTERTAINING. 

Our furry girl

Jade Scarlett 

{Yes, she has a middle name}

Happy 2nd birthday little mommas! 

You can always bring a smile to my face when I come home from work especially when I see you hopping off the couch because you know you aren't suppose to be on it. You are so spoiled and love to love and lick with your stinky breath. When I have hard days and I am home alone, I am glad you {& Sage} are my pal and don't mind being smothered. Some people laugh at my obsession with you and your brother, but you were my pets in heaven and I'm glad we can share life on earth together. Hope you enjoyed your Milk-Bone all natural trail mix birthday cake. Its a special day for a special girl. 

{this is your furry Mom-Scarlett}

{The many faces of Jade}

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.