Catching up since August 1st!

It's been exactly three weeks and two days since I have posted. I know this because 2 of the 5 people who look at this blog have been reminding me that "there is nothing new!" Sorry. I guess I didn't realize that anyone was following along :)

So let's see if I can recap in words and pictures why I have been absent. The last time I posted Matt and I were preparing to go on a mini vacation. The night before we left, the kids had a "vacation" of their own!!!

Camping in the living room has never been so much fun!

Although the "camping" looks like a lot of fun, Matt and I opted for something a bit more comfortable for our mini vacation. We headed to the coast for our 10th Anniversary. We had a great time in Pismo just doing whatever, not worrying about schedules, children, etc. It was just what we needed.

Here's where we stayed-a home on the edge of the cliff (literally!)

that Matt's family has been renting for the past 20 or so years.

New things for the end of summer:

Short hair for all three girls!!!

And a new boat for all!!!

The pups watching us clean the boat and keeping the neighborhood safe :)

We decided to take the boat out a day after we bought it and join some of Matt's friends from the fire department at Millerton Lake. We had a great day; except that our new boat only lasted about 2 hours in the water! Apparently there was a seal that wasn't "sealed" and a bilge pump that didn't work! Hmmm... anyone think maybe we should have taken a test drive? Thankfully we didn't sink and we were able to jump on our friend's boats. Here are some of the photos from the day.

Jeremy against the kids... I think the kids won!

More photos to come...

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Feelin' Hot, Hot, Hot!!!

Summer has found us here in Reedley! It has been between the high 90's and 105 over the past week! Today we are seeing the beginning of a "cooling trend" as my sweet Auntie Mike would say. But I am not complaining. We are blessed to have a beautiful home and a fabulous swimming pool to cool off in. Yesterday, Matt surprised us with an inflatable water slide that drops the kids into the pool. The kids had a blast! They were overheard saying, "Woo hoo!" and "Awesome Dad!" I even tried it once, but I didn't slide very fast - hmmm... maybe I am over the weight limit.

Anyway, last week I went to UCSF to see some Neurologists and see if they could explain why I was having headaches. Basically, they could not. The doctor recommended that I treat the pain with migraine-type medication, get some more MRI's taken and then return in 6 weeks or so to meet with an MS doctor. He was not really saying I have migraines or MS, but since there is some white matter scattered across my brain, they need to figure out why. Apparently doctors who treat MS patients have more knowledge of white matter changes than neurologists do. So... that is where I stand with that. Thanks so much for all of the phone calls and emails. I feel blessed to have a great family and so many friends who are just like family praying for me.

Speaking of family, my mom joined me on the adventure to San Francisco and we had a lot of fun (and spent a lot of money!) Everything is expensive there and we even had to pay $20.00 just to park at the doctor's office. Nevertheless, it was worth it just to hang out with my mom and have "girl time." Again, I am so blessed! Thanks mom!

Tonight we have a swim meet up in the mountains. Both girls swim for the Reedley Marlins Swim Team and are having a great year. They have improved their times, won lots of ribbons, and most importantly are having fun! Even Daniel wants to be a Marlin. He decided yesterday that he was no longer going to swim with the floaty bathing suit and instead swim in his shorts, just like his dad. And he did! We can now officially say that Daniel can swim all on his own. He was so proud if his accomplishment. Emily was too. In fact, she was so excited that she wanted to teach him the backstroke already!

Wow! My babies are growing up so fast. I can hardly believe it. But it reminds me to cherish every moment I have with them and to live as if there were no tomorrow.

Been a long time...

O.K. So I was all gung ho and started this blogging and then sort of let it go; and I'm less busy than ever before. Go figure!

So much has happened since the last time I wrote in May that I don't even know where to begin. So I will start with what I have pictures of - the end of school, Matt's Baptism, haircuts, and our trip on the train.

Both Emily and Katelyn received awards the last week of school. Emily received a Scholar Award for receiving high grades all year long. Katelyn was awarded the "Husky of the Year" - a prestigious award given to one student in each class. We are very proud of both of them! And speaking of proud, Matt made the decision to be Baptized. I was thrilled to be able to be a part of his Baptisim. For more about how we do Baptisim in our church, you can go to http://www.reedleyfbc.com/ and check out Gilbert's message. But basically our Pastor believes you should be Baptized by someone who has been instrumental in your faith walk. For Matt that was myself and our dear friend and mentor Linda DeRuiter. Thanks Linda. You mean the world to us. :)

Here are the girl's new doos!

Of course, then Daniel wanted to take a picture too

to show that he and I also got our hair cut!

So much for my bi-monthly time to myself! :)

And Finally, the children and I surprised (sort of) Matt with a trip on the Amtrak to Discovery Kingdom (formerly Marineworld). Since I am not going to be around tomorrow, on Father's Day, I thought it would be nice to celebrate Matt early. So we boarded th Amtrak early Wednesday morning and headed for Vallejo. It was a blast! Emily kept saying, "It's so cool. We can eat, walk and go to the bathroom all on the train!" Katelyn and Daniel enjoyed it too. We played numerous rounds of Uno, colored, and just hung out. When we arrived in Vallejo, we quickly dropped off our stuff at the hotel and then headed out for a full day of fun. I was pleasantly surprised. No, it's not Disneyland, but it is very clean and there are a lot of attractions for both kids and adults. And there were not a lot of people so the lines were relatively short (except for the outrageously priced food). I will add a few pictures here of our adventure.