Panning for gold

O.k. I am back tracking a little because I finally got the pictures I needed to do this post. When we were in California in the beginning of October, My sister Sara and my mom (Lori) took the kids to Caloma to pan for gold. It was such a fun day for the kids and I had to document there time there.

Cousins

Sean and Andrew are only 6 months apart in age. They love hangin out and are both very cool dudes.


My sister Sara and I


My mom Lori and sister Sara

Sara and my niece Ella

My Nephew Owen

Look at the serious concentration here. very serious stuff.

The kids were thrilled about their treasures. We had a great guide to help us get some real gold flakes and not fools gold. We had such a great time. Aunt Sara even bought all the kids candy and harmonicas from the gift shop, which they were all banned from using in the car on the way home. I highly recommend this place for kids and grown ups.

Summer concert

I got so behind on blogging this summer so I thought I would catch up a little and back track to mid July. One of my favorite things I did tis summer was the Fray and Jack mannequin concert. I went with "My girls" Laura, Holly, Diana and myself. It was a lot of fun. My friend holly introduced us to the band Jacks mannequin and now they are one of my favs. My favorite song is called Swim off the glass passenger album. It's very inspirational and brings tears to my eyes when i hear it.

We all got matching T-shirts too



Thanks for the concert girls! It was a blast!

The Fourth

Fourth of July for us is filled with Food, Family, Fun and of course Fire works. This year we had a busy and amazing day. During the day we went to see my sister and her family visiting from California. We had lots of food and the kids got to play with the slip n slide and they got to roast hot dogs and smoores. It was great to get the cousins together again.Cali and Ella eating their popsicles


Cali, Andrew, Sean and Ella

After that we headed over to My sister in Laws parents house to do Fire works with the other cousins. It was a lot of fun for the kids. Sparklers were the hit although Cali burned her poor little finger on one.

This is me with my good friend Holly. She is the sister of my sister in Law Laura. Craig and his mom with her dog Molly Cousins and Fireworks

from L to R Hailey, Jacob, Andrew, Cali and Sydney. We were missing Laura nd Lindsey who went to stadium of fire to see the Jonas Brothers. They had a really good time and got to see amazing fireworks.

Beautiful Aunt Holly with the twins Sydney and Hailey

Cali with her"girls" as she calls them. She cannot tell them apart so rather than get it wrong thats what she calls them. They are inseperableOur little family

I Always try to reflect on this holiday and get a new appreciation for my country and my freedom and think about all the brave soldiers who continue to fight to protect our country and have died for it. i am so greatful to live in this country. I feel so blessed to have been born here.I am truly proud to be an American girl. It was a great family day. i really enjoyed all of it until we got home that night and saw that our dog got spooked by the fireworks and chewed up our wood blinds trying to get out. Oh yes the blinds that give us privacy from all the neighbors. Clearly a terrible mistake on our part. Something I wasn't ready for but I guess I will get those white plantation shutters I have been dreaming about. Won't do that again.

Miniature Golf With Nina

One of the kids favorite things to do with Nina is Miniature golf. This is a tradition that goes way back to when Andrew was 3 years old. When Cali was born and Nina came to help...she would take Andrew miniature golfing every day. Til this day they love to go and when anyone gets a hole in one we all sing...Shake your boody, shake, shake your boody. It is so fun. My mom came out to help with my Thyroid scan and since it was a clean scan and I was cleared I got to go have some fun with My mom and the kids. What a relief. Thanks for always coming and having fun with us Nina! We love you!