Summer Time!

I can hardly believe that the summer is just about over.  I love having Tyler home and spending the days with him.  The older I am getting the faster time is flying by and summer just seems to go by twice as fast. 

In June, Tyler went with my parents to California for a couple of weeks.  He sure had a lot of fun getting to spend time with grandma and grandpa.  They spent their time swimming, playing, and homework from me. Each day Tyler has to do a math, English, and multiple choice page to help maintain all the skills he learned from the previous school year.  I know....mean mom!!  (Or one who cares a lot depending on your perspective!) 

Tyler got back on July 3 just in time to watch the fireworks go off when they came out of the canyon.  I was sure happy to have him back home.  Maleina couldn't wait either.  Every morning she would wake up and ask me how many more days until her best buddy came home.

Then on  Friday, Mark's brother got married on a lakeside beach that is about an hour from where we live.  It was a gorgeous evening and he married a great girl!  All the grandchildren looked so nice all dressed up for Joe and Melinda's wedding. 

Tyler stayed the night at the cabin they had rented while the rest of us had to go back home to let the dogs out.  We drove back up the next day and spent some time at the lake.  We are so lucky to have such a beautiful place just a short drive away!

On July 8, we traveled with my brother, Chris, down to their home in Arizona.  They men decided it would be fun to have the boys in one car and the girls in the other car.  Nice of them huh?!  The girl car had two little troopers ages 2 (almost 3), and 4.  They were so cute together and were excited for a week of fun.  Along the way we picked up a girl who was going down to stay with her sister for awhile.  Thank heavens she was with us.  She was able to help keep the little girls happy when they were having moments of stress. 
Finally we arrived after a long, long drive! 

Our time in Arizona was filled with swimming!  The first day there we went to their community pool twice, once in the morning and once in the evening.  It is a wonderful pool.  The kiddie area is perfect for kids of all ages and Tyler and Maleina had a blast.  While we were down there, Wet n' Wild was running a deal where if you bought 1 full price ticket it would act like a season pass the rest of the year.  That was awesome, especially since we had planned on going there anyway.  So we went there three different days and spent several hours there each day.

We had a fantastic time with Chris, Shae, and Lucy!!  They were wonderful hosts and we had delicious food each night!  Unfortunately all vacations come to an end way to quickly.  On our way home we decided to go through Vegas and stopped over at Lucille's for lunch.  If you're ever in that area and want some delicious BBQ food I highly recommend going there.  Similar to Texas Roadhouse only better!

As you have noticed there are no pictures.  I am saddened that once again I don't have pictures from our summer fun.  I just don't take cameras/phones to water parks or places with water.  I don't have the best of luck with phones even though I try super hard to be careful bad luck seems to follow me.  The day after we got back from our trip, I was with my sister in my parents' car which decided to have serpentine belt break while we were driving.  Of course, we didn't know what had happened or if the car was drivable so we just pulled off to the side of the road and waited for my brother to come help us out.  After he determined it was okay to drive it to the dealership to get fixed, I followed him there in his car.  I got out of his car and my phone dropped some how, landed facing up, and still I ended up with shattered the top glass on my iPhone.  So I don't take my phone where I can even chance getting it ruined by water. 

Bear Day Camp

Mark got called to be a the Bear leader in cub scouts so he was able to go to day camp and get some fun pictures of Tyler and his friends.  I love the attitude the boys are trying to portray in the photo above.  It makes me laugh every time I look at it.  Tyler loved having dad go with him and having him as his leader.  He turns 10 soon and is already sad that his dad won't be his leader anymore.  It has been a great experience for Mark to spend time with Tyler and his friends.  Mark has this connection with the youth/cub scouts in our area.  They are always joking around with him and yet they know when it is time to buckle down and get to work. 

 Target practice.  

 Bead work and leather stamping.

Balance practice.

A New Shed and a LOT of mud!

In April, Mark had a contractor build a shed for us in the backyard by the garden area.  I decided we should have a pathway leading up to the shed for the day (several years down the road) when Mark gets his riding lawn mower.  Tyler loved being able to help the adults pour the pad and sidewalk.  I kept Tyler home from school so that I could get his and Maleina's hand prints in the sidewalk.   

 One night, my mom came over for dinner.  After dinner the kids went outside to play.  Mark had the hose running to water some of the new trees we had planted this past spring.  Next thing I know, my mom is telling me to look outside at the kids.  Tyler (who does not like to get dirty) was holding the hose in the dirt creating quite a mud pool.  Maleina, as you can see from the pictures loved it!  She cannot stand being sticky or messy from eating food, but apparently loved being free to get muddy.  They had so much fun together! 

This is our new shed!  I love having a much cleaner garage!  Quite an undertaking to make a simple building but the end result is nice!

Trip to see Grandpa!!

Over spring break, I took the kids and Grandma to visit grandpa in California. We were all super excited to go on a trip and get away for a few days. It's quite a long drive but the kids were Star Wars Troopers or Rainbow Troopers depending on which child you're talking to.

The obvious highlight was visiting with grandpa. We only get to see him a few times a year. Both, Tyler and Maleina, loved swimming in the pool. I thought it was chilly and I swear kids are immune to the cold like that. They swam for a few hours three different times in upper 60s to low 70s. Burrrrr!!!



Towards the end of our time in CA, grandpa took some time off work and we went to Monterey to see the aquarium and eat at a delicious restaurant called The Fish Hopper. They have the best clam chowder I have ever tasted!




The next day we drove along the coast over to Carmel and had to stop in at Pebble Beach just for a picture and souvenir for dad.

After seeing Carmel we were ready to travel back to grandpa's apartment. However, grandma had different plans. I fell asleep and woke up along the coastal highway on our way to San Fransisco. It was a beautiful drive (a little curvy for my tastes) but overall very nice and enjoyable. Tyler was super excited to see the Golden Gate Bridge. I must admit, I wanted to see it also.




When we finally made it there, the skies were blue and no fog it sight. It was gorgeous. When we got to the other side and got out, I decided I wanted to run back across the bridge. Very impromptu, but totally worth it!!! I will do this again although I will have to walk because I am going to bring the kids with me.




Our final morning there I decided that I needed a picture of the kids with grandpa in front a sign that said, "We speak Woof!!" Meaning, the apartment where grandpa lives is pet friendly. The kids had gotten a kick out of the sign all week long. However, note to self, don't try to get a nice picture just before leaving. A few tears were shed making eyes extra sensitive to the light.

We sure had a blast. Thanks grandpa for taking time off and showing us around! We love and miss you tons!!!!

Fire Station

Making sure Maleina is tall enough to get in the driver's seat!


Maleina had a chance to go with her preschool class to the local fire department in March. She loved seeing the engines and getting to be in the back of the paramedic truck. The firemen were so cute with the kids and getting them involved and excited to learn. One of the highlights was when an actual call came in and they had to leave with the lights and sirens on. All the kids were a little in awe watching the firemen get ready in their suits and in the trucks to leave to take care of the fire that had occurred. Luckily in the incident they were called out to, no one was injured.

Kuyki-Do

Tyler has been taking Kuyki-Do martial arts since September. He loves going and learning all the kinds of martial arts. One of his favorites is sparring with his classmates.

In March Grand Master Kim came and visited the Dojo along with his wife. Tyler had the opportunity to belt up from teenage white belt to a yellow belt in front of Master Kim. He was super excited and nervous at the same time. He did well and achieved his new rank as a yellow belt.

After the rank tests were finished, Master Kim spoke with everyone about what he has learned in his life. He presented a lot of information about using your mind, body, and spirit all together to succeed in life. If you stop taking care of one part then the other two cannot thrive. I was impressed with his presentation and felt he had a lot to say to help everyone be the best they can be.

Driving...watch out!

Grandpa and Grandma got a remote car over the holidays and last weekend was the first time my kids drove it. Maleina was a little scared at first when I was doing a three point turn so she could go straight for a little while. So we had Tyler drive it and she saw how much fun he was having and tried again and loved it! When Tyler was driving the car, Maleina had the remote control and thought she was in control. Tyler had fun riding around in the car, he is a little tall but enjoyed it anyway.

Happy Birthday Maleina!

Another year has come and gone and I cannot believe that my baby is 4!!! She is still all about princesses so we made a pink castle cake this year. Maleina helped me assemble the towers and place the flowers on the cake. As we were decorating her cake she started planning next year's cake already. Hooray for another version of a castle cake next year!

Maleina has grown so much this past year. She has learned to do buttons, snaps, zippers, gloves with fingers, and getting into mischief being her all time favorite. Hopefully one of these days she will grow out of getting into trouble (talcom powder all over Grandma and Grandpa's bathroom being the most recent). Her favorite activity would be to draw, paint, color, or cut (not her hair anymore...Thank Heavens!!). For her birthday Mark and I gave her an art easel with paints, a roll of paper, chalk, and paint brushes. She has already used half of the roll of paper and paints all the time. I don't even bother to put it away because the next thing I know is she will want to paint again.

We are so blessed to have her in our family. She makes us all so happy. I remember one night a couple weeks ago, she was so sick and she goes, "Mommy, you're so cute!" She is always thinking of others and making sure that we are all happy. When Tyler is getting in trouble she will interrupt us and say, "Be nice to him, he is my brother."

For her birthday Maleina's birthmother came over and stayed a night with us. Maleina is blessed to have a relationship with her. She is an amazing person who gave us one of our greatest blessings. She is part of our family and we love her and think of her daily. She made a difficult decision placing Maleina with us and I look up to her for making that choice. We are grateful to her and love her with all our hearts!

Hair Styling Fun!

Now that Maleina's hair has grown out a few inches we are having fun experimenting with different hair styles. As long as the style lasts 2-3 days she loves it because then we just have to do small adjustments the next day and she is off the hook of having to sit still and have her hair done. I love it because it is time we get to spend together and talk about whatever she wants to talk about. I have also loved doing hair since I was a little girl styling barbie doll hair. Here are a few of her favorite styles:



Headband Weave (This is Maleina's personal favorite, not so much for Auntie Mik...we love you anyways.)



Hair Bows



Braided Circle Piggies




Valentine's Day Styles

Super Bowl

Tyler's favorite football team made it to the Superbowl this year....New York Giants. He was super excited so I went to the mall and bought him a shirt to support a team. Tyler made a few bets with friends and one with his Uncle Chris. When the Giants were down he was sweating it big time and worried that he would have to pay his friends money and wash Uncle Chris' car. But never fear, the Giants came out on top and he was jumping up and down so excited that he would get lunch with Chris when we go to visit them this summer.

Ice Skating

One of Tyler's favorite activities is to go ice skating. He loves it and tries to get better all the time. This year, I put Maleina on ice skates and she had fun for the most part. The ice arena has a hot cocoa club where you go and for five minutes Maleina got some instructions from a teacher. It helped her confidence a lot to have someone besides mom try and teach her how to skate. Both kids are doing great. I think their favorite part is when they are done I get them a hot chocolate from the concessions and they love it!

Christmas 2011

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. The kids loved all that Santa brought them and spending lots of time with their cousins. We are so blessed to have family living close by and those that don't were able to come up for the holidays.



Maleina loved her Dream Castle that Santa brought unfortunately the elves were in a hurry and didn't make sure it all assembled well. So we took it back to a store and exchanged it for a Barbie Townhouse which stays assembled much better and she plays with it all the time now.



Tyler's favorite gift was his iPod touch. He loves all the games he can download and play.