Memorial Weekend Camping Trip

Another year means another camping trip. Our plan all along had been to go to Lake Alpine again. Not the case this year as you will see from some of our pictures. They still had 5 feet of snow on the ground, so we headed to a new campground for our camping trip. This year we were at Wakaalu Hepyu. It is Miwuk for wild river. And the river was very wild and very fast while we were there, but gorgeous to just sit by and watch and listen. Here are some pictures from our trip.

The Simple Things

There is nothing better than watching your kids enjoy the simple things in life. That being a warm spring day where they can run through the sprinklers and ride their toys along the sidewalk. I enjoy watching my kids enjoy life. I makes me realize how lucky I am to have them.

Why I Love California

I have always lived in California, except for the most perfect 2 1/2 years that I spent at Ricks College, in Rexburg Idaho. That said, all I can do is think about getting out of this awful state. Not because I don't like California anymore, but it isn't the California I grew up in. The politics, the lousy education system, the crime, and the liberals.

I do have my reasons for staying and here they are. The Beach and that wonderful sea air.
The Rolling Green Hills in the Spring
The snowy mountains in the Winter


Does any other state have this to offer? Nope, so I am content to stick things out for the time being until they get so bad that it's time for the millennium and there isn't any other choice than for them to get better.

Catching Up

I know I have been slacking. Life has really gotten busy since I posted about my time at school with Cameron.

There was Easter, which was pretty laid back and uneventful thanks to the soggy weather. The Easter Bunny was very nice to hide our eggs in the house instead of outside this year.

We went to see my sister, Laura, in her production of The Secret Garden. This was the kids very first trip to see an actual stage production and I have to say they did very well. Madeline did much better than I expected and Cameron asked me to go and buy him the book so that he could read it. I will wait a little while before I buy the book. He is a great reader, but some things may be a little to difficult for him to understand.














Then there was Cameron's school trip to the Monterey Aquarium and the beach. Cameron loves the aquarium. This was his third time there. They had the most wonderful exhibit on sea horses. Truly beautiful animals in the sea.





















Can you see the sea horse in the photo?























After the Monterey trip, we signed Cameron up for the city swim team. This is something he is very passionate about. I hope he stay passionate about it. We have been looking for something that Cameron would love in the way of sports. Hopefully this is the ticket. He asked to join swim team after watching the world swimming championships last summer. He isn't the greatest at his strokes, but he doesn't give up, so that is saying something for him.






















And then there was Mothers Day. It wasn't a grand day, but it didn't have to be. I got to spend some great time with some great mom's that are in mine, my husbands, and the kids lives. I had a great day at church with the kids. After which we headed to my mom's house for lunch and let all the cousins play together and then it was on to Paul's mom's house as soon as he got off of his shift.

This is a tacky way of catching up I know, but I will do so much better once the school year ends and things slow down a bit during the summer.

It is 12:43 AM & I can't SLEEP!!

It is really late in the evening and I just can't sleep. Don't know the reason, I just can't sleep. Maybe it is the impending cleaning fest, chili making and impending work that needs to be tackled and finished. Maybe I am feeling a little overwhelmed by the soon to be end of the school year or the impending pay cut to Paul's salary. Maybe I am feeling a little lonely and without a really good friend to hear me and understand me and help me. I guess I am just feeling a little emotional and it is only early Wed. morning. Maybe it is that time of the month, as my husband would say, which makes me a little angry when he says that now that I am thinking of that.

Am I the only one who goes through these kind of low points. You know that kind that makes you feel a little worthless and boring and unattractive. The kind that makes you a little angry at others and makes you speak your mind a little to harshly only to realize you may have hurt another's feelings. That is how I am feeling at the moment. (Or maybe it is because I have been up way past my bedtime.)

I really shouldn't feel this way. I have an amazing family, an amazing husband, two amazing kids, and a life that I am sure others would want a little piece of or a glimpse of. But I still feel kind of blah. Blah. Blah. Blah.

I'll get over it. I always do, just don't understand why I feel this way sometimes.

I did not disappoint!!

For the first time in a long time I felt like I didn't disappoint.

As a working mom life gets difficult and you have to pick and choose those activities that you can attend and will mean the most to your children.

On Tuesday, Cameron's school had their annual Read Across America Day. It is also Dr. Suess's birthday. This is probably the same on every elementary school campus. On this day parents can come to school and spend an hour for lunch reading and having time with them. It was really important to Cameron that either myself or Paul could attend. Paul of course could not, so I was left to hope that the schedule of patients at the office would suffice me to leave a little early for lunch.

I arrived at work only to find that there was no way in heck that I was going to be able to leave early. There were far too many patients that would allow me the luxury of spending a little time with a little boy who wanted it so much. So I worked diligently and regretted that I was going to let my little guy down and was going to have to make it up to him in some sort of way.

As the morning progressed a few patients showed up very early for their appointments and some didn't stay as long because of other issues that were pressing. I thought this might be my chance. I weighed whether I should go or stay and finally just told them I was leaving a little early to spend some much needed time with my little guy. Thank goodness I have an office who allows me that luxury. Some aren't so lucky, but I am. Heavenly Father has really blessed my with a great workplace that is so understanding, and on this date he made it possible for a little boy to get his prayer answered.

I walked into Cameron's classroom and that look of joy will be forever etched into my memory. I did not disappoint. His mom was there and he was so happy and so was his teacher, who has been a breath of fresh air and understanding for Cameron.

I love that little guy, and though he makes me crazy, he will always be my little guy. And I will always do my best to not disappoint.

(The picture you see with this post was taken by my friend Diane Conn. She is magnificent. If you live in California's Central Valley look her up, you won't be disappointed. www.connphotography.com)

Did I Mention We Love The Snow...

This post has been a long time coming. Life has indeed gotten in the way. So much to do and the blog was put on the back burner. Now I am back to update our journeys and travels in the past few weeks. There hasn't been a lot of them but we have still been busy.

The pictures in this post are from our second trip to the snow this year. Cameron had a day off from school and we took the opportunity to go head up to the hills while everyone else had to work. It was fun to have most of the snow to ourselves. There were maybe a dozen of us up there, which gave us lots of room to run and throw snowballs.

Paul and I have been busy trying to purge our home of all the junk (stuff we don't use anymore) from the house. It is a long process, but we are getting things done. Slowly but surely we will get there. The garage is almost done, which means I will be having a yard sale in the near future to make some money off some of our gently used items (mainly toys).

So here's to the fun and the not so fun.

Snowboarding...NOT FOR ME

Paul and I headed up to the slopes with some friends for some fun in the powder. It was absolutely perfect for me to be learning to snowboard (for the very first time). I know you all want to know what took me so long to finally try it out. Don't worry, I won't be trying it out again.

I had a great lesson and was doing well on the little hill, and then our instructor said we were ready for the lift and going down the mountain (it is more of a bunny hill, not a mountain, but I would like to exaggerate in this instance) . No more small little hill.
I was up for the challenge, of course, I am always up for the challenge. And then I got off the lift, strapped into the board and looked down the mountain. You have got to be kidding me is all that ran through my mind. I am 33 years old, have two kids at home and she wants me to board down this mountain. Well I tried, and fell face first, tried and fell on my butt, tried and fell on my butt again, and tried one more time and fell again. Only to get back up and hear the instructor say we would take the lift one more time to go down again, and again I repeated my first run down. Upon completion of our second attempt down the hill (hell) she said our lesson was done and we were free to go on our own. As she said that, I am thinking absolutely not. And that is exactly what happened. I took off my board headed into the lodge and waited for Paul and our friends Dennis and Heidi. Upon their return I told Paul he would not need to buy me a board, I would not want to try it again.

Don't get me wrong, I did have fun being up there, just not going down a mountain with both my feet strapped onto a long single board. Had this been 10 years ago I probably wouldn't give us so easily, but that would be 10 years ago, no two kids, and abs that could get me up every time I fell. Not to mention the next morning I felt like a car had hit me. Instead I will be trying my hand at skiing the next time around.

New Years

Happy New Year to all of you out there. 2009 was anything but easy, but we have been truly blessed with what we have been given. I have wanted to pull my hair out at times, but who doesn't. Life just keeps going and our family is hanging on for the ride. I am hoping that 2010 will be filled with a few less trials, but if the trials come our way we can take them in stride and learn from them.

New Years Eve was uneventful for us, so you will see no pictures associated with this post. I stayed up with the kids at my parents house, and they stayed up right until the ball dropped and literally crashed as soon as it fell. Paul had to work so I didn't have my honey home with me, can't remember the last time he was off for New Years, but I have grown accustomed that. He works hard and does his best and that is all that I can ask for.

I hope that 2010 brings you all hope and happiness.

Snow Snow Snow

Can you tell that we love the snow. We finally had a year where I didn't have to carry anyone around, because they didn't like the snow. Madeline had the best time ever, and was sad when we had to leave. Same goes for Cameron. So we will be heading up to the snow again at the end of January.

Meet The Newest Members of the Staley Family

I would like to introduce you to the newest members of our family.

Please welcome Rascal (orange) and Gracie (diluted calico).

They joined our family on Christmas day and things will never be the same again.

Christmas and Everything Else

I know, I know, I know. This post has been long overdue and I am sure you will all just graze over the words and look at all the pictures.

I will start off with the latest and work my way to the earliest news.

Our tree is always the last tree on the street to drop it's leaves, I don't know why, but is always the last and always drops them right after Thanksgiving. So we piled up the leaves, made sure to leave a pile in the middle of the grass, and waited for Cameron to come home from school. Boy did those two have a blast.







The Sunday before Christmas my family headed out to Christmas Tree lane, like we do every year, and walked around and looked at all the lights. It was nice, but so very cold. This Christmas season has been really great because Madeline has really gotten into it this year. She gotten into it so much that she even opened presents 2 weeks early only to have them wrapped up again.







And finally we come to Christmas and all the presents and family gatherings. It was a busy one for us this year, but we enjoyed every minute of it and I think the kids did too.





Now we are on to the New Year and new beginnings.

Christmas Lights Parade

So I hauled the kids off to our local Lights Parade that they hold every year thinking they were old enough to not complain too much about the cold. I was wrong. With only half the parade done I had my leg peed on because there were no bathrooms in the vicinity of the parade route and the boy was tired of being in the cold and wanted some dinner.

The parade was much longer than in past years, so it took 2 hours before it was finally over. Yet I made them stick it out until we finally got to see Santa close out the parade. If I was going to be out there with a wet leg they could make it to the end of the parade. Then we walked as fast as we could to the car, turned the heater way up, ran to Taco Bell for dinner, and made it home to cuddle under the blankets and watch some movies together.

Note to self for the next year, it would be much better if you have friends to go with, because they can commiserate with you and your kids about how cold it is. I will be investing in a cold weather thermos for next year to haul in my own hot chocolate. Starbucks was far too busy and I didn't stick around to buy my kids some hot chocolate to quench their poor little appetites and bodies for warmth.

Acoustic Christmas

Our local radio station puts on an acoustic show every year right around Christmas, hence the name Acoustic Christmas. This year they had a stellar line up and I had to go, and take two of my sisters with me. It was awesome. So glad I spent the $70 to go. I hope that they have just as good a line up next year so we can go again. Third Eye Blind
Mat Kearney
Ingrid Michaelson
Green River Ordinance
A Fine Frenzy


Amanda, Myself, And Laura

Cutting Down the Tree

Again this year we were along for the ride and the company. Paul was working and we don't get a tree without dad. So we went to enjoy some great company with the cousins, their great friends, and my wonderful grandparents.

We head up to Apple Hill every year to cut down the tree, stop at the farmers market for some farm fresh apples, and then back to the grandparents for yummy hot soups.

It was great. Loved the extra time with the cousins. And even got a picture of all of us cousins that were able to go just like my Aunt Wendy used to do when we would go to cut the tree.

Thanksgiving

It was an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday this year. We had a total of 36 at my parents and it was wonderful. We had so many cousins that we have not seen in a number of years and all sorts of nieces and nephews running around and some really great friends that helped make the holidays even sweeter. It is holidays like this that really makes you appreciate how important families are and how lucky we are that we get to spend eternity with them. For that I am thankful.

I don't have a lot of pictures from the festivities at dinner, but did catch some photos of Cameron playing with my cousin Ashley's little girl Dakota. They really enjoyed themselves.

I hope that we can do that again very soon.