TEN ON....THURSDAY

December 29, 2001

Today marks our 10th wedding anniversary and with that I thought I would try to list what we've done or where we've been for each of them! A lot has happened in 10 years so some anniversaries are a bit fuzzy and we can't quite remember them.

#1. Devin surprised me with an overnight trip to Cincinnati and a fancy dinner on a riverboat. 2002

#2. I was pregnant with Austin and we spent Christmas in Albuquerque with family and probably went out to dinner somewhere. 2003

#3. Don't really remember this one. :( 2004

#4. I was pregnant with Teagan at the time and we left Austin with my parents.We spent a night at the Hotel Monaco in Denver where we each got massages and went to a nice dinner at Willie G's Seafood. 2005

#5. We left the boys with my parents and went to downtown Colorado Springs and did one of those spa packages that included dinner and champagne, massages and pedicures. 2006

#6. Our little family of 4 spent a few days over our anniversary at in indoor waterpark in England and then visited Warwick Castle and Stratford-upon-Avon (the home of Shakespeare). 2007

#7. I was pregnant with Bailey and after Christmas our family drove to the Isle of Wight for our anniversary/New Year's. We spent a few nights at a holiday resort in a cabin where we could cook our own meals. We played games and went for walks. This one was very memorable because I had a terrible sinus infection and I discovered Austin had gotten headlice and we couldn't find a drugstore on the island that was open for the whole week. 2008

#8. This one is fuzzy too. But it's likely we had a babysitter and went to dinner. 2009

#9. Our first anniversary apart. Devin was finishing his thesis in England while we in the States with family for the holidays. 2010

#10. Our good friends/neighbors are babysitting all the kids so we can have a date night! 2011

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Tae Kwon Do

The boys had their first Taekwondo test this week. They passed (with some help) and will be getting their yellow belts next week. They are loving it but the 40 min drive each way twice a week is wearing on me. Wish it was closer. Oh the things we do for our kids!

The month of October was super busy for us. Not only are we back full swing into school, we have also added regularly scheduled activities for the boys.

Austin has started cub scouts and has already earned several achievements and went on his first camping trip with his pack. Austin is enjoying getting to know some other boys his age and some of the silly things they do in pack meetings. Teagan gets to tag along to the meetings and field trips, which is helping him learn some of this to be ready to start cub scouts next year. 

The boys are attending a weekly Bible study with memory verses, games, and crafts at our church. Another way for them to get to know other kids their age as well as the outside help of Bible teaching and memorizing verses!

The boys have also been going to TaeKwonDo classes which they are really excited about it even though they are quiet, unfocused and lack the strength and flexibility for those kicks and stretches. My boys are not big team sports enthusiasts so I'm thinking this will be good for building their confidence without the competitiveness and also for learning respect and discipline. We are currently working on using "yes sir" and "yes ma'am" more at home since it is emphatically encouraged/demanded of them in class. I hope to get some good pictures of them in class soon!

Now just to find something for Bailey. I was thinking tumbling or martial arts along with her brothers but she has expressed a desire for dancing classes. She likes to spin in circles and say she is dancing. She also periodically asks Devin or myself to dance with her. She may be tough and fiesty but she is definitely a girly girl.

We finally fulfilled our promise to the boys to go to Legoland which is something they have been asking for daily since moving to California 9 months ago. They had to complete the school year and wait until summer was over before we could go. We spent 2 days there and had a blast. Definitely a good place if you have a younger kids. No super scary fast thrill rides which are not a particular favorite of my boys yet and Bailey was too small for only a handful of rides.

We enjoyed a short visit with my parents and saw Griffith Observatory, Santa Monica Pier, and went to a pumpkin patch. It was too short but we were glad they could take the time to come for a visit.

The kids got to dress up this year for halloween and go door to door in our neighborhood. Austin wanted to be a transformer and chose Iron Hide and Teagan wanted to be a ninja. Bailey of course chose Tinkerbell  her favorite!

The weather here is getting cooler and we now have more clear crisp days where we can see for miles across the ocean and enjoy beautiful sunsets.

HAWAI'I

Much to my surprise back in August my husband got the notion to use up some of his vacation days by flying the family to Hawaii. While I'm never one to turn down a vacation to a tropical paradise, the fact that MY husband was suggesting this was so out of the ordinary. So with a little planning and calling to figure out flights we headed up the coast, taking the scenic route to San Francisco. I'm completely in love with the West Coast-line. Beautiful sandy beaches, steep rock cliffs, sunsets and even the fog rolling in. I admire it so much that I'm trying to instill some of that in my children and teach them to appreciate God's creation.
We made stops along the way in Solvang, (a little German village) and at Hearst castle, which after living in England my kids didn't understand why they would call it a castle. We drove along the PCH up through Monterey and then on to the airport. Flying a military flight requires flexibility and patience since you can't really plan on an irregular flight. You show up and wait and it's nothing like going to a normal airport. But now my kids can say they've flown on a C-5 (a very large cargo plane). What an experience! Our seats were in the top of the plane and we could look down over the cargo area.
We spent one lovely week in paradise. Our hotel had direct beach access and a pool so we spent lots of time in the water. We also drove around the island, visited Peral Harbor and climbed Diamond Head. No visit there is complete without some fresh Dole Whip from the Dole plantation, which we did...twice. We returned home exhausted but had a fabulous time. I'm trying to convince Devin to put Hawaii on his wishlist for his next assignment. We'll see! :)

Beach Baby

Our Hotel

At the Luau

Before the hike

At the pool

Austin took this picture

Waimea Falls

On a Submarine

School's In

Let's see...August went by in a blur. Not much to report except that it was a great month in terms of weather. We finally got some days in the high 80s and it felt so nice. Now I'm sorry summer is over.
The middle of the month, Devin was away for two weeks for some training and I took the opportunity to get the kids started back into school. August 15th was our official start date and yes that is early for some here but I knew we would be taking some vacation in September so I wanted us to get a good head start. The kids did pretty well getting back to the routine of things although it was hard to get them to accept there would be no more morning tv watching.
Austin so far is doing well in 2nd grade. He's not really learning any new concepts yet so he's finding it all pretty easy except for the reading part. He lacks desire and motivation, so we've strayed from our school reading books and are just picking kids story books around the house. I've since purchased the Happy Phonics set and have started that with the boys and they are enjoying the games.
Teagan is breezing through Kindergarten. We actually started him back in March with it and he's already read through all the books and finds math very easy. When it comes to writing letters though he puts up a fight and doesn't understand the need to write them over and over.
Bailey is doing well and keeping occupied with movies or her toys while I teach the boys. Sometimes she sits with us and colors in her coloring books. So much better than last year when she wanted me to hold her constantly.
Despite my impatience and frustrations in teaching my kids at home I'm actually enjoying this year better than past years. I think since we are nearly over the hurdle of teaching them to read, it's opened up a whole new world and level of learning for them which makes things a little more exciting and easier for me. I know it will be difficult as we move up in grades and I have to teach harder concepts and subjects but for now I'm feeling pretty good with the fact that my hard work is sinking in and they are actually learning!

Now we've got 3 weeks of school done before Labor Day and we plan to take a much needed family vacation and use up some of Devin's vacation days before the end of September. We've been talking for a while about getting out to Hawaii while we are here and being military there are a "few" perks. So we plan to drive up the coast of California and hopefully catch a free flight to Hawaii. Devin and I did this over 9 years ago when we first got married and now want to try it again and bring the kids. They are so excited! We plan to make a stop in San Francisco. For some reason my kids have been fascinated by the Golden Gate Bridge and have seen it in pictures or movies so they are excited to know we'll be seeing it in real life.

And the best news to come out of August was that Devin's scheduled deployment was cancelled. Many of you prayed this would happen and God certainly answered those prayers! I'm relieved he won't be gone for six months and that we can spend Christmas together this year.

Sorry no pictures in this post. I meant to get first day of school pictures of the boys but never got around to it. I'll post some soon!

Stars, sunsets, fun and bugs

Several weeks ago we spent the day in Hollywood and met a few stars. :)

 

                        

  

Then we enjoyed some neighborhood fun and sunsets.

And we've had to deal with some pests in and around the house.

This I just had to post. Anyone know what it is?

Summer!

Since my last post we've been in full fledge summer mode! Great weather, friends and family, days at the beach, lazy days at home and even camping. The only problem I'm finding with our current living situation is that I feel as though I'm permanently on vacation. Who wants to do housework when the first thing you see in the morning is  clear blue sky and the ocean? It will be so hard to get back into the swing of school in another month. However another bonus to this paradise location comes the family and friends that actually want to make the trek out here to visit!  I'm looking forward to BOTH my sister's visits over the next couple of weeks! Hey, so any friends or family reading this you've got a free place to stay if you're wanting to visit sunny California!

July 4th was a fabulous afternoon with our close friends from the valley that came down for the day. It was a great time to visit and watch the fireworks.

The nearest swimming beach to us is part of San Pedro harbor and doesn't have the big waves like the other beaches. The kids just love splashing around in the water there even though it's really cold.

Last weekend we went camping with our new church family. This was first time we've gone since Bailey was born. It was hot but lots of fun. The kids got to try their hand at canoeing. It was a fun experience and they all want to do it again. Maybe my kids are growing to like water and boating like me. Next time they want to try kayaking and maybe tubing on the lake.

So we have one more month before school starts! It will fly by so we are trying to make the most of it. Devin has meetings next week up at a former assignment so we plan to drive up and see our first house together and some old friends. Then Devin will be off for a 2 week deployment training and my sister will come for a visit. Maybe we'll get a few more visits to the beach, another camping weekend and a trip to Lego land before the end of summer! Then we'll be trying to spend as much time doing family things (around school) before November when Devin is scheduled to leave for 6 months. It's gonna be a busy few months!