Weekend Trip!

In Celebration of Dustin's new job...he is now working in the Cath Lab and is home every night! (I don't need to tell you how excited I am to have him home every night and every weekend!) So to Celebrate and to use up the last 'free' weekday he will have for a while, we decided to hit the beach...and Disneyland...and the Angels game...

We went to Laguna Beach because we heard there were tide pools there, and there was! That was so neat. The kids really liked looking for and watching the hermit crabs, fish, crabs and anemones. So cool to see the creatures of the ocean!

Brody practicing his writing skills in the sand...oops! Took that one upside down!

That's my Cooper man showing you his STRONG muscles!

Little beach girl! The kids absolutely love the beach. It was so pretty here, too. The water is a little more shallow and such a pretty blue-green color...love the ocean!

Checkin' out the tide pools! Tried to get some good shots of crabs, but those babies are fast!

We hit Disneyland too. And here is my baby boy. He really is having a hard time right now. He really likes to do things himself and sometimes the word 'No' just doesn't work well with him. What a little pout! Its so hard not to laugh at this face when he does this!

The kids met Cruella Devill. She asked them if they had a puppy. They told her yes, one. She said "What color is it?" Gracie replied "Brown." Cruella then brushed them off and said "Never mind!" The kids thought that was hilarious!

So we've heard of this place 'Pinks'. It the most famous hot dog stand in LA. So Nico took us to Hollywood for dinner. The hot dogs are HUGE ....

Like really HUGE...and had crazy toppings....

..chilli, guacomole, nacho cheese and onions? Dustin said it was pretty good though!

Then we hit the Angels game with some of our favorite people..the Watsons! Aren't they so cute?!

We love that we have such good friends down here! Our friends in California are our Californian family and we are so grateful for them!

Why I go to Canada...

When I tell people about going home to Canada, and they hear how long we plan on staying, they are usually shocked. "A MONTH?!" Yes, a month. The biggest reason is because, we can and it really makes it worthwhile to do a nice relaxing big trip than a really quick, stressful, running crazy trip. But the biggest reason would be found in the following pictures...

Its our family. This is Dustin's family when we went camping this year with them. I love Dustin's family as much as my own. We always have alot of fun together...sometimes at each others expense...and we laugh. And the kids play and play and play. It always amazes me how we do not see these kids for months and months and they just pick up like we were there last week. After hearing horror stories of other people's In-laws, I am so VERY grateful for Dustin's family.

And my family...well, this isn't everyone...but I can't imagine not spending the time I get with them. I think it would drive me insane to only get a couple of days here and there. I talk to my mom almost everyday. And we're talking for at least an hour. I think our record is four hours...its sad, I know. But I need to have that connection to home. That's why I need to spend the time in Canada...I need to reconnect with my roots. And I need my children to know their Grandparents and Great Grandparents.

We are very fortunate that we have some Great Grandparents still around. and we don't get to spend alot of time with them, but we do get to have a good visit once or twice while we are at home. Here's the kids with Great Gramma Godlonton, Grampa Craig's Mom.

And here they are with Great Grampa Gruninger, Gramma Margie's Dad. I think its nice to teach the kids about family, that involves not only our little family, but Aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents as well. Hopefully we will all be together in Heaven one day...

And the kids with Great Gramma Chalmers, Gramma Sherry's Mom. We used to talk to Gramma and Grampa Chalmers on the computer alot when we first moved down. And when you would ask the kids where Grampa was...they would point to the computer.

And here with Great Gramma and Grampa Henry, Grampa Gerry's Mom and Dad. We get to spend a little more time with them since they live next door to my mom and dad, so we are lucky in that way. And Grampa loves to watch the kids play outside.

We are so very blessed to have family, and being away has made me appreciate them so much more. You learn to enjoy every moment you have with them because you know it will be a long time till you see them again. Its scary to think like that, but it helps me to remember to live in the moment, to not think about the future too much. When Dustin's Grandfather passed away after we moved down here, it was really hard because we weren't there with the family. We got to go home for the funeral and spend a little time after, but initially, I kept thinking about how we weren't there, we didn't get to see him, how everyone was doing, who was going to be next. I was sad and upset, but I know we will see him again, and he is there watching out for our family. I also learned that we have today to do things. I can't worry about what's happening tomorrow, next week, in 6 months...I have today to live. I have today to enjoy. I am Thankful for my Todays. That's why we go home for such a big stretch...so I have a month of TODAYS.

First Day of School, 2010

A little break from our Canadian Trip to fill you in on what's going on around here. The kids are back in school and this year we have a Second Grader and a Kindergardener! Oh, I can't believe it!

Brody was so excited to go to school this year, that when he asked about going to see Gramma and how long we would be, I told him that we would come home just a few days before school started. he said, "Well, maybe we should come home a little early, because I don't want to be late for my first day of school!" Granted, by the time we were ready to leave Canada, this was the kid who had decided he was going to stay with Gramma and go to school there, and was VERY upset when we left. I bought him a new lunch kit to win him over...yes, I bribe my kids, don't judge me!

Here they are! I asked them to give me some ATTITUDE and this is what I got...weird. I really don't like that shirt that Gracie is wearing. We let them pick 2 shirts at Old Navy and she had about 4, and when she narrowed it down, this one made the cut, even though we tried and tried to convince her otherwise. I lost.

Gracie, Second Grader!

Brody, First day of Kindergarden!

Here's Cooper man ready to send off the big kids. I was really wondering what we would do all day to entertain that kid.

Walking to school with Ryan, our neighbor. He's in Kindergarten, too. The kids think this is pretty cool to have a friend to walk to school with. and I think it helped Brody with a few first day jitters. Ryan and Gracie were sick last week, and poor Brody really had a hard time. I think he was a little lonely walking through that fence for the first time by himself!

Here he is in class the first day. He just put his stuff away, and said "Bye, Mom!" I'm so glad he doesn't cling to me anymore, but part of me was still a little sad. The second day, he had a little rougher time, and there was an awful selfish part of me that was a little happy that he still wanted me there with him...I know awful and selfish.

Here is Gracie in her class. She is very excited about Second Grade. I'm not so sure. How did she ever get so big? She does Math and Reads and tells me how to have a balanced meal. Where did that baby go?

Miss Independent told me on the second day that I didn't even need to walk them to class that day. I told her until Friday, I would walk them to class. Then she said that after Friday I didn't need to walk them across the street to the gate anymore...she would walk Brody to the gate. I told them, I thought maybe I should walk them to the gate this year for a bit, and then we'll see. Maybe later, I'll let go a little.

I doubt it.

Canadian Trip Part 4...Henry Reunion!

This is perhaps one of my favorite times when we go back, because we get to see the WHOLE FAMILY! My Dad's family is quite small, just him, Uncle Greg and Aunt Sandra. And the cousins are all similar in ages and we usually get along well. I remember as a kid, every summer there were times when everyone would come spend a few days at Gramma's, and lucky me, I lived right next door, so I got to play with my cousins alot. We always got together around Christmas, and then about 5 years ago, we decided we needed more fun, and we started getting together for the whole weekend in Gramma's backyard. The adults sit and relax and play cards and the little runs can run amok without getting into trouble!

Here's little Baby Lolo as Cooper calls her, demonstrating her Scrunchy Face.

Aah...the pair that started it all! My Gramma and Grampa. They really enjoy having it right in the yard because its alot less trouble for them to stay home. And they get their own beds too! Its so nice that my kids get to spend time with their Great Grandparents!

And its so fun they get to play and get to know their extended cousins too! They had so much fun playing at the park, swinging, swimming and jumping on the tramp! I think their favorite this year was Night Games. We taught them how to play capture the flag and they loved it.

This is a tradition from the first few reunions. We play capture the flag, kick the can, sardines, hide and seek. And the last few years its been just the Grand kids and the older great grand kids (translation: we are all adults running around through the trees in the dark. Pretty interesting what happens, especially when we all have a fairly hardy competitive streak running through us!)

Well this year we passed it on down to some of the younger ones. I wasn't out when they played the first big game with all the adults and kids, but they said it was pretty fun and Rachel, Owen, Gracie, Brody, and Levi loved it! That's all they wanted to play after that, for the rest of the vacation. Capture the flag!

Of course, we play games. Cards, Giant Memory and this year 'Minute to Win it!' Mom watched the show and got all the ideas for the different games. It was so much fun to watch everyone participate. That's what I love about my family too, no one is afraid to get DIRTY!! Or shake your booty if there is a need! Hey, when the prize is candy and honor, we will do just about anything!

So much fun! So many blessings! I am so grateful for the time we get to spend with the family! The last day, some of the extended extended family came and stopped by for lunch. That included my Gramma's sisters, sister-in-laws and some of their families. When I was really young, we used to get together with all of them too, so it was really neat to see many of them again. What will it be like after this life to see and embrace the family that we have. Can you even imagine the joy and the FUN that will be...we could have a really great game of capture the flag then!

Canadian Trip Part Three...Camping in BC!

We got the chance to go camping with Dustin's family this year in Jaffray, British Columbia. With it being such a funny, wet summer, it was the first time I was hot! We stayed at this nice little campground with a little stream and swimming pond that the kids could play in, right outside the trailers so we could watch without worrying who was drowning who; and there was nice roads for bikes and a great little playground. And best of all...shower facilities...that's my kind of campin'!!

The big excitement of the week was fishing. I'm not much for the sport and neither is Dustin, but the kids were excited to go fishing with Grampa. The first stop was the Trout Hatchery...

Cooper and Gramma checking out the trout in the Children's fish pond.

Uncle Jamie helped each one of the kids catch a fish...Levi and I had the great pleasure of catching grasshoppers for bait. Never thought I'd run around after bugs again!

Daddy and Cooper in the Hatchery. They gave us a tour and explained to the kids all about raising the fish and everything involved with that. It was pretty interesting.

After the tour, the kids got to feed the GIANT trout outside. Some of those things were huge! And they really REALLY liked the food. When we went back to camp, the Men-folk took the kids to Baynes lake to fish. Its all catch and release, but I guess its stocked with some pretty stupid fish because you just throw in the line and they bite! The kids really liked it and they all came back with fish stories. And every time you asked them how many they caught, the answer got bigger and bigger as they tried to out do each other!

Like I said before, this was the first and only time I was hot on this vacation...it was lovely! And so how do you cool off? You go to the 'beach' at the lake. The water was a little cold for me, but the kids had alot of fun playing in the sand and water.

The boys had a water fight!

And Gracie even jumped off the floating dock!

No one would believe us about how crazy and silly Cooper could be. They really got a good look at this kid on this trip! Cooper earned the nickname, "White Devil" because, well, he's white, and he's slightly coo-coo! And in the moonlight, he actually glows!

This little creek was awesome. We could sit in the shade and watch them play in the water and not worry too much at all! Every campground needs one of these!

On our way back to Del Bonita we stopped by the biggest truck in the world! Its a giant mining truck and according to the kids, it will hold 2,000,000 golf balls. That's a big truck!

I have not been 'Camping' in a long time. It was nice to be peaceful and not have a schedule to run to and to just sit and watch the kids play. It was especially nice to have all the little cousins to play with as well. And they played so well together. It really makes you so grateful for the wonderful family we have. We are so blessed to actually get along with our family and enjoy each others company. I am forever grateful to my Heavenly Father for this wonderful blessing.