thoughts

last night our next door neighbor, Denise, passed away. She was only 47 years old and died of Pancreatic Cancer. For a couple of weeks we have been very suspicious that something is going on but we didn't want to be nosy. Last week Jake was coming home from work and saw her and her husband out walking and he was holding her and she was walking really slow, Jake thought maybe she had surgery or something and then on Sunday we were leaving and saw her and her family sitting out in front and she was in a wheelchair. we never suspected that she was dying, didn't even know she was sick. we also have seen a lot of people coming and going. yesterday I saw Heather and asked if she knew what was going on. she said she didn't but they were wondering too. later she saw another neighbor and asked her if she knew what was going on and she didn't but she suspected that Denise had just passed away because a van pulled up and men in suits brought a gurney in and then out with a body. there was a sign on the door that said Oxygen in Use. why didn't we stop and ask if everything was ok, why didn't i go to her all natural cleaning product party, why didn't I do bootcamp at 5am with her when she invited me and my mom to join her (ok we know the answer to that one), why wasn't i more friendly. we are shocked beyond belief and we didn't know her very well, never thought that this would affect us the way it has. so sad that I will never wave to her again as she walks into her house or say hi as she walks the street with her dog. she was such a good person and so healthy and so active. she has a 22 year old daughter and it is heartbreaking that she just lost her mom. we, jake, me and my mom, went tonight and talked with Mark, he told us that she was diagnosed Sept 10th, she went so fast. they thought that she could beat this, the doctors thought she was the perfect candidate to beat this, she was so healthy and so strong. they are churchgoers and have had a lot of support. he is hurting, he told us that this morning he saw a mug on the kitchen counter that they had bought together while they were traveling and with us he cried. so sad for their family. makes me want to be a better neighbor, be more friendly, live each day to the fullest and love each of your loved ones more fully because you don't know Heavenly Fathers time frame and how many more days you will have with them. I am grateful for Denise, for the good person she was and for the eye opener she gave me.

Edwards

I attended a field trip with Sierra to Edward's Airforce Base today with her 4th grade class. It was a great day! The best part was being with my girl all.day.long! I just love sitting by her on the bus, I just love sitting next to her while we eat lunch, and I just love holding her hand and putting my arms around her all day!
We learned something new: Do you know what the F stands for in the F-16? It stands for Fighter. Do you know what the C stands for or the A? C is for Cargo or Carrier and A is for Attack!
Pathetic excuse for a picture but my cell is from the dark ages and I cannot get pictures off of it, Karlie's dad got to go in the hanger with the girls because he wasn't wearing flip flops like me and he sent me this picture.
We even brought home a souvenir and I NEVER buy souvenirs but for $3 we got some Alien Icecream...

the kids LOVED it! Sierra said "tastes like marshmellows!"

For Sale

Posted on Craigslist: Family Room set $100
girls day bed with trundle $175, both mattresses included, main mattress only 1 year old
Let me know if anyone is interested. :)

Happy Birthday Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today is a holiday and I LOVE holidays. I love having my children home. I love just doing whatever we want to do...so I went for a run with my mom at 8:30am instead of 6:30am...when I got up to go Sierra was all flustered, I said "what, I'm going for a run?!" She said "I was surprising you and making you breakfast in bed!" and then she said "oh well, you'll just have to get back in bed when you get home!" OK with me! :) When I got home I was sweaty and they wanted to serve me right then so the couch is where I ended up...so wonderful!

I cleaned out the garage because we are having a Goodwill drive at school and the kids made a trail out to a surprise picnic in the backyard for lunch. Sierra had made sandwiches and they put crackers in a bowl and we sat out on a blanket and enjoyed being outside, again so wonderful!
I got my feet rubbed with lotion by my wonderful children...I got to take a nap.
My husband BBQ'd us homemade hamburgers for dinner at his parents house, my dad came too!
It was a good day!!!!

the ring

A friend of our family just got engaged last night...my mom was telling us about her ring after dinner tonight...she said, "it's really pretty, it's pear-shaped, a little bit less than 2 carats." She paused and then Sierra said, "wait, it has pears and carrots on it?"

I speak French!

The other day my kids were helping me wash my car, it was filthy still from our trip to Mammoth. I said to my kids, thankyou for all your hard work the car looks stupendous!
Sierra said to Ashton, "Do you know what stupendous means?"
He said "no."
She said, "it means GREAT!"
Ashton, "in French?"

sweetness

not my baby anymore...

Ashton said to me about a month ago, "mom, why does it feel like there are more teeth down here?" I looked and oh dear, there is 2 rows of teeth. I told him, cool!!! Just like a shark! Needless to say, I've been a bit concerned and have been telling him to wiggle wiggle. Trying to avoid paying the dentist.
He was hungry and it was close to bedtime. I told him to go get an apple. He did and he was biting away at his apple. When he was done he said, "mom my tooth is really really wiggly now. and it truly was! YAY! So for the next hour he was working at it, daddy was working at it and mommy too! He really wanted it out so the tooth fairy could come...


and at this point he was being so brave. He doesn't like to see blood and he could taste it too. looked a little bit scared and I kept asking him if he was ok and if it hurt. he was fine...so brave.

and then it happened, mommy plucked it out, YAY! mommy got a little emotional too. His first tooth! My baby lost his first tooth!

Sierra let him borrow her Tooth Fairy Eeyore and he put his tooth in the pocket and slept in his bed the WHOLE night because mommy told him that if he left and came to sleep in my room the tooth fairy would get confused and not leave him money because there was no child in bed. HE DID IT! and he got "1 dollar and 25 cents!"

Mammoth...

Look at this sweet baby, Corbin, my nephew! I LOVE this picture of him, his first time in the snow...I just love him!

LOOK at all the SNOW!
Funny story about these boots. Ashton has black snow boots but I got out these pink ones that used to be Sierra's because Lincoln needed a pair to take to Utah and we were looking at all of our options before new boots were purchased. Ashton saw these boots and wanted to wear them, HE wanted Lincoln to take his black boots because HE wanted these PINK boots. He was insistent. So funny! He loved his pink boots!


This mountain of snow was right out in front of the condo.

and then we drove and hiked to our original location and had so so much fun! Notice I'm carrying Rossi and a sled. :) Us aunties gotta do what we gotta do.







Sierra and Nixon were snowboarding...on a sled!


kids found several secret hideouts this time in the trees because there was so much snow...can you see Ashton?

snow was so soft, hard to make a decent snowman but we did it and it was tiny

I just loved these babies the whole time...Luke left and Corbin right


Uh oh!! Rossi's blanket got dirty!

until next year!

More snow pics...

we just can't get enough!
our house

our street

grammy's house

view from grammy's backyard, look at all the white rooftops

grammy's garden area, white!

Brett out by the fruit trees, grampy was picking grapefruits and lemons so they didn't freeze...Chris came in with cuts all over his arms.

Happy Birthday Grammy!

and today is my mom's birthday. The day just couldn't get any better. Oh wait, yes it can! We kept Nixon here last night because he is coming to Mammoth with us. When we went up to mom's for dinner Rossi was eating chips and salsa at the table. We were really confused, "what is Rossi doing here?" "how did he get here?" "what is going on?" Out jumped Brett and Briana. SURPRISE! Yay! What a great surprise!



Happy Birthday Mom!

It just keeps coming, and we are loving it!

1989 was our last snowfall, Jake and I were in Elementary School. Can't believe it, this is so much fun!! WAHOO!