Preschool Musical

Garin (first on the left) sang in the preschool Christmas musical. He and three others dressed as donkeys. The class all dressed as barnyard animals that were in the stable at Christ's birth. He definitely did not have stage fright.

Christmas with Grammy and Grampy

We celebrated Christmas with Grammy and Grampy today. Gabby was sick with a fever so we did not attend the musical at church. We has a great time relaxing and enjoying corn chowder. It was cold out side and perfect sitting inside by the fire. We had a great time visiting.

It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas!

Christmas Decorations! We seemed to decorate a little later this year than normal but we took our time and had fun! We put our nativity scene, advent calendars, garland and decorated the Christmas tree. But poor Gavin was sick today. We probably get carried away with lights and garland but it is our most favorite time of the year!

Thankfulness to Him

Praise God for all the blessings he has bestowed on our family.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving camping in Cottonwood, AZ with Grandpa and Grandma Meyer.  That day was rainy so we ate in the RV.  Roger deep fried the turkey outside and Grandma and I prepared the rest.  We thank the Lord for our health, family and the time we get to spend together.  This November marks three years we have had Gabby and Garin in our lives.  They have fit right into our family in a way only God could have done!  This December is our 14th Wedding Anniversary, 2 years since the adoption finalization and 2 years since the roll over accident.  We drove by the accident sight one night on the way home from a football game in Phoenix.  Again we thank God for keeping us safe in such a dangerous situation.  On this trip we even had a visit from Steve, one of the officers from the accident.  A great reminder of how our testimony can touch the lives of others around us.   All praise belongs to the Lord!

Dad at Work

Dad packing up Turkeys at work. To read the entire article, visit the Press Enterprise at
http://www.pe.com/localnews/rivcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_E_eturkeys20.426edb9.html

Julian for the Weekend

This last weekend we took off and went camping at Pinezanita in Julian. What a beautiful campground. The kids were amazed by the size of the acorns and they even had a pond for fishing. Grant caught the only fish in the pond. We spend Saturday afternoon walking the town of Julian, eating carmel apples and pie. We enjoyed relaxing and having family time.

A Blast from the Past

Look at all these new toys. Well I guess they are kind of old. One cool day, Papa brought over his Lincoln Logs for the boys to play with. This was hours of entertainment and what amazing houses they built!

Hallelujah Night

To start the day, Gabby and Gavin had community helper day at school. Gabby dressed as a baker and Gavin as a firefighter. For Halloween, we went to our friend's church, Calvary Chapel of San Jacinto for their Hallelujah Night. We had fun going to the different booths and collecting candy. The kids love dressing up too!

Garin Has Talent!

Garin started riding his bicycle without training wheels at 3 1/2 years old! Wow, he is amazing. This afternoon, all three boys were out back riding bikes and Grant and Gavin ran in screaming. I ran outside and Garin is yelling, "Look mom, I am big now. No training wheels!" I guess Garin decided that he didn't need them anymore so he asked Grant to take off his training wheels.

Then the skateboard. Garin has some great coordination. He has just started riding on Gavin's skateboard. He will roll the board then run, jump and ride. I don't think I can even do that! Yes, you are a big boy now Garin! Watch this video that was taken two weeks later.

Idyllwild Nature Center

Grant's 4th Grade Class visited the Idyllwild Nature Center. We toured the Indian Museum, played games and used homemade tools, hiked through the woods and made a small purse. The class has been learning about Native Americans and were preparing to write a report and their assigned tribe. Grant's report was on a tribe in Northern California.

Oak Glen, CA

Wednesday, we went to Oak Glen, CA, with our friend Kim, her two boys and our niece Britny. We picked apples at Riley's Farm and enjoyed the cool air. Later we went to the Candy Shoppe and ate carmel and candy apples. We played and took a walk before we met Roger for dinner. Fall is so fun!

Jeep Dash Cam

Come Jeep with us! Coyote Canyon East, Borrego Springs, CA

The Springs at Borrego

We just got back from an awesome camping trip. We went to the Springs at Borrego, Rv Resort and Golf Course. We joined our good friends the Hixson’s and the Leuty’s. It was quite warm in the day but cooled off by the evening. Saturday, my parents and two nieces drove up and joined us all on a jeep ride. We drive the east side of the Coyote Canyon Trail. Right in the middle of this trail there was a 1-2 foot deep spring right on the road that we drive through for at least 100 yards. There were trees all grown up and covering the water so we were actually driving through a tunnel off trees. The trail curved to the right so you could not see the end. After the traffic passed we were able to wade though the water and cool off a bit. Sunday morning, after Kim and Karlee made 17 breadsticks for breakfast, we took another short jeep trail before driving home through Julian, CA. Yes, we did stop for cider, candied apples and pies!

Kindergarten Fieldtrip

This last Wednesday, the Kindergarteners and parents loaded up the bus and headed for Redlands, to the Pumpkin Patch. Gabby and Gavin were excited to start the morning off with a wagon ride pulled by a John Deere tractor. Then we learned about the life of a pumpkin and about the many different kinds. We spent some time feeding and petting some of the smaller farm animals and then jumped in the bounce house. We enjoyed celebrating the start of fall together.

A Visit from Uncle Jon

We had a very special friend visit us from New Hampshire. Uncle Jon came out on a business trip and was able to stay the weekend with us. Uncle Jon, Aunt Janell, Andrew, Aubrey and Austin are good friends of ours that live back east. Grant, Gabby and I visited them two years ago but they had never met Garin. We had lots of fun. We even took Uncle Jon on a jeep ride. It was our first time to get stuck too! We were only stuck for a few minutes though. The kids enjoyed our visit and hope he can bring more of his family next time!

Roger's 40th Birthday

September 7th, we celebrated Roger’s 40th. Wow, time flies. He hasn’t decided if it is better to be gray or to pull the grays out and be bald. Well what do you get him? Good question. We decided to take him on a surprise outing! We packed a lunch and drove down to the San Diego harbor. We arrived at Harbor Yacht Club where we had a 31-foot sailboat and skipper waiting. He has always wanted to go sailing and now it was just the skipper and the six of us. Our skipper’s name was Fred and he was awesome. He loved the kids and taught us a thing of two about sailing. Rog and I even got to steer out into the ocean. It was a beautiful day. We saw sea lions, a school of dolphin and gorgeous scenery. Roger enjoyed his day and was definitely surprised.

First Day of School

Today is a day of many firsts. This is Garin’s first day of preschool. He will attend Tuesday and Thursday from 8-11am. He is very excited that he is “big now.” Gavin and Gabby start Kindergarten with Mrs. Clancy and Mrs. Hansen. They attend Monday – Friday 8-11am. Grant is now in 4th Grade with Mrs. Ayala. This is the first year that all the kids are actually in school. Oh my, I am getting old!

As the week progressed, Garin figured out that he does not attend every day and he was very upset. After we dropped off the other kids he would just cry, “Turn mom, turn.” Then he asked, “Aren’t I big now?” It took him a while, but now he is enjoying his mommy time.

Silver Strand State Beach - August 25, 2008

We found the best campground right on the beach!  We stayed for 5 nights at the end of August, right before school started.  Our RV was up against the sand, nice ocean breeze, and dolphins passed by every evening right before dinner.  We used our portable fire pit for campfires and made smores, breadsticks and even dinner one night over the fire.  We did tow our Jeep so we could get up and go.  We took many walks down the beach.  The kids actually woke up at 6 am so they could go find sand dollars or any other treasure washed ashore early in the morning.  One morning we even found a beautiful clear and scarlet red jelly fish.  I think we ended up with over 100 sand dollars.  We had a relaxing time and will definitely visit again.

Grant's Birthday - August 22, 2008

Children are a gift from God! Grant turned nine years old and what a fine young man he is turning into. Grant does great in school, loves to fix things, loves his family and most importantly loves the Lord.

For his birthday he wanted a Star Wars party. Well, we made Jedi costumes and noodle light sabers for the boys and Princess Leia costumes and tiaras for the girls. We even had a special guest: Darth Vader. After the party we took our friends to the Canyon Lanes bowling alley in Cabazon. I think we needed five lanes. We had so much fun! Happy Birthday Grant!

Sequoia National Park

The big vacation this summer was our annual trip to Sequoia National Park. What a great place to get away from the chores of life and enjoy the nature God created. No wonder Tharp carved out his tree and took residence there.

We joined our good friends, Steve and Kim Leuty along with their family on another excursion. The sites are just magnificent! We saw many wild animals including two bears. One was so close I thought the kids were going to just pet it. We jeeped, hiked, fished and relaxed up in the cool mountain air. We even got to eat wild gooseberries. By the end of our visit, all of the children earned their Junior Ranger badge. Six in all. Great job!