campin it up!

Moses is getting 4 teeth right now, so he had a runny nose and didn't sleep, but what's new!
Roasting mallows, a nightly tradition
Payton wearing her mallow
The kids would sit around this gopher hole and watch him poke his head out all week, he was not shy at all!
Dump trucks are a tradition with Jonah, Zeke and Davey, it would not be camping without them!
The boys being cute with their pose!
The girls. I was going to post the pic of us in the morning, but they might be mad at me! I think we all look pretty good for camping!
Our family. we look pretty clean in this picture, the kids were pretty much always dirty or sandy, but that is the joy of camping!
Leave it to Adam to bring something fun that entertains the kids all week, last year it was the tree swing, this year bubbles!


Camping 2009
I think we figured out that we have been doing this camping trip together for about 7 or 8 years now! Crazy!
It started with just 2 little babies, now between our five families we have 13 kids and one on the way! (not mine, don't read into that statement)
It was a great trip the weather was amazing, 75 degrees!
We had so much fun just being together, the kids running around playing and singing, riding scooters and dump trucks, the adults telling stories ( really it was just Sam and his crazy stories, they are so hilarious!)
One bummer thing about the trip happened on the morning of day one, I get my camera out to take some shots of the kids and realize my battery is not in it! ARGH!!!
I never have a chance to take pictures, I miss it so much, and the one time I have the perfect opportunity I can't!
Dan had his camera but I barely took any, so sad.
Besides that we had a great time, I love these friends, we went through ministry together and through so many life changes, hard ones and good ones. I love you all and am so thankful for your friendship and for our time together to camp!

camping

Last weekend we went camping at Siskyou (sp??) Lake with the Gafners. It was BEAUTIFUL!!!
We were amazed by the constant beauty all around us, trees, water, Mt. Shasta right in our faces! The weather was perfect and we had so much fun!
We went on bike rides, caught butterflies by the water, swam in the really cold water, went on a boat ride, and ate yummy camping food.
It was a great camping trip.
In about 2 years it will be even better because the babies will be older.
We didn't get much sleep but when do you ever camping with a 10 month old!
Sofia was in her element, dirt everywhere, snacks all around, and friends to laugh with, she had a blast!
Zeke was in heaven with bikes and scooters all around, he would have slept on the bikes if he could!
Moses didn't sleep but what is new right, he did ok, next year will be awesome with him!!
Anyway it was a blast, thanks Gafners for making it a great weekend!

Game night

Got back yesterday from our holiday in Riverside. I am not sure I would call it a true holiday, in my opinion a holiday consists of sleeping in, reading a great book or 4, and eating great food. I only ate too much food!
Moses thought it might be cool to get sick and wake up at least 3 times every night. So we came back tired. But time with family and friends was great and I am thankful for our parents help with the kids!!
We had our annual New years eve party where we played cranium guys vs. girls. I am happy to say that this year, finally the girls beat the guys. And not just beat them, but destroyed them, thanks to some rules and judges we set up for club cranium. No cheating this year boys!!
Anyway it was fun to be back with friends, it wouldn't be a new years eve without the yelling and chaos of the game, Dan making smart a** comments, kids running around and Sam taking his shirt off in excitement!
We did it girls, now we can make a lame t-shirt like Rodrigo and start a tally of wins!!!
jk mike i love the t-shirt, i'm just jealous!!

givin' thanks

This thanksgiving was our first one all grown up! We have always gone to our families house for the thanksgiving meal, but this year we stayed here in Redding and started a new tradition.
We had 8 adults and 9 kids, still we were outnumbered!
Melissa, Gafners, Osbornes, and Christian.
We had yummy food, and played scattegories, there was much cheating going on, usually by Dan.
The kids did awesome they ran around outside for 5 hours and rarely got into any fights, it was amazing. We are pretty sure the kids thanksgiving meal only consisted of cupcakes and brownies, but hey it is only once a year right!
The only fiasco was saved by my mom. I forgot to take the bag of giblets out of the butt of the turkey! It was in the oven cooking when I got a text from my dad wishing us a happy thanksgiving, when I texted back, my mom just happened to say you checked both ends of the turkey right?...
Both ends, what!!!
So I had to take the 24 pound turkey back out of the oven, out of the oven bag and reach up there and get the bag, nasty.
Doing the turkey reminded me why I have thought of becoming a vegetarian. The fact that you have to pull the neck out and other insides, sick.
Anyway thanks mom for saving my turkey!
Thanks Sean for cutting the turkey and making yummy gravy!
All in all it was a great day.

Top 10 Things I love about camping

Our family went on our annual camping trip with our close friends. This was our 7th year camping together with these 5 families. We had a blast here are some highlights

10. Sleeping in a tent in 40 degree weather, not showering for 3 days

9. The tree swing that Adam made for the kids to play on, they loved it! Watching Zeke play with his friends that he misses so much.

8. Doing dishes with the girls(although I didn't do much) and I agree Annette, we could totally live in community!
7. Sitting around the campfire when the kids are in bed, freezing our butts off and laughing together, just being with friends who know you so well.
6. Listening to the guys play their guitars and ukuleles, it would not be a camping trip without the sound of them playing music together.
5. Listening to the song Zeke and Jonah made up about Cheese nips, they sang it for 2 days straight. This was after they added it to everyones name. "Hi Davey Cheese nip." Davey didn't appreciate that name.
4. Going to the tide pools with kids, just watching them learn and explore
3. Watching Zeke learn how to play baseball for the first time ever

2. Just having meals together and living for a short time as a family
1. Being with these people that are family to us, being known and loved by them. Miss you all already

women's retreat

We had the first Women's retreat for the The Stirring last weekend and things were so crazy when I got back this is the first time I have had to debrief and mull over the weekend.
For me the retreat was amazing, it was so nice to have more than 5 minutes to talk with girls from church. It seems on Sundays my time is limited to really sit and talk with people because of my responsibilities as a mom. Which is one of my favorite jobs!
But to really hang out and laugh with other women was so nice for me. It has been hard for me to adjust and find my spot here in Redding. I know these things take time and I also know my role as mom and wife is priority, but it is hard to make new friends and new relationships.
The retreat was so awesome to just sit and meditate on God's word. I love that Jesus can use one word or one phrase and show me what things in my life I need to work through in order to become more like Him. I loved to worship with so many other women, the feeling of our hearts calling out to Jesus to meet us to change us. It was so what I needed and I am so thankful I could be a part of it.

Visitors

In the last month we have had a lot of visitors come up to see us! Dan's mom came up last weekend and we flew kites twice which I think we adults may have enjoyed more than the kids! I didn't get too many pics of the first day where Carol could have seriously injured herself trying to get the kite up, but I think that is what Grandmas do, they just go for it in order to please the kids!
Our dear dear friends Steve & karen came up on Sunday and stayed with us for a few days and when they left today it made me miss them even more! It is always so fun to hang out and relax with friends you have known for so long. Friends you can talk about anything with and who make you laugh and who love your kids like they are their own. Zeke absolutely LOVES steve and Karen, they are like family to him and every morning he woke up and waited for them outside their room to get up! He got plenty of wrestle time in with Steve, and Karen of course read him books and the teacher in her played phonics games with him! Zeke also enjoys acting like their cat immojean, and Karen obliged by teaching him to purr and scratching him behind the ears. You know they are good friends when they indulge your kids in the weird games and acting they want to do!
I miss that feeling of friendship where you are truly known by your friends. I know we will always be great friends with them, it just sucks not having them down the street anymore.
We love you guys, thanks for good times... thankfully see ya soon!

reading is sexy

I have been slowly thinking of all the things I will miss when we move, the list is quite extensive! I am having such a hard time leaving our families and even more so Zeke not having his Grammy and Grampy and Nana and Papa. I get emotional so often when I think about how hard it will be for him. But I know he will be ok, so will I!
But I have been thinking so often of my book club, oh how I love my book club! We started I think about 2 years ago and there are only 3 original members from when we started. Jenn, Karen and I. There have been many added and there is a steady group of about 5 of us. I love this group because we read fun books, have great discussions about these books and we laugh a ton. What I love most is that we talk about the book for like 15 minutes and we talk about life the other hour and a half! We always seem to get on subjects I really can't blog about! I am so grateful I have had this outlet where I can go and talk about our lives, how we want to change, our struggles, and other crazy subjects! Thanks Jenn, Karen, Kari and Shari for sharing and listening I am going to miss you all so much. Maybe I can still read along with you!
Jenn came up with our motto so long ago, Reading is sexy! Thanks Jenn, maybe we should get T-shirts made with our motto on it!

The girls are back in town!

That title should be sung in your head as if you are singing that song, "the boys are back in town"
Two of my girls from college came for a visit this weekend and we had such a blast. I met Trisha and Leslie about 9 years ago, and actually became close with them after we were out of school and livin' la vida loca in Redding!
We had a great time getting our nails done, eating yummy food together, and cracking up at memories we have of ridiculous things we did in college. I just love these friendships because even though we have not seen each other for 2 or 3 years we can just pick up right where we left off. It is so cool to see where we are now, in such different places but still linked together and able to share our lives with one another. Thanks girls for a great time! I will always remember hot doggy dog!