4th of July

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!

This year, we headed to Oceanside Harbor with my family.  This was the last time we would get to see Gavin & Shawna and their family (all together), because they were leaving the next morning to move to Florida.  The beach was FREEZING!  And we got to the beach nice and early, anticipating insane crowds.  Lucky for us.....hardly anyone was there and even though it was cold, it was a wonderful day.  My whole family was there and many of our friends came down and joined us, as well!

Amber, Shauna & Blake

The Hammers and their surf buddies

Joel and Gavin

 It's been so nice having my brother and his family so close the last few years.  We will certainly miss them while their gone.  Here's little Camille in her sailor dress w/ Gammy:

It was a perfect day to fly the kite with Papa:

 And Uncle Mark is awesome at burying and creating creatures in the sand:

 The Mermaid Granddaughters-

 Once it got closer to dinner time, we moved our stuff to a fire pit and had ourselves a BBQ.  The kids had so much fun playing together all day.  This is such a cool pic-  All the kids gathered around Gav as he told stories.

 Then they had a blast playing four corners-

 We got invited to play volleyball with some people on the beach.  It was fun to play with my brothers!  

At 9:00 PM, the fireworks went off from Camp Pendleton.  We all huddled up and watched the show!  The kids all sang the patriotic songs along with the show...

 We roasted marshmallows and made smores.  It was so much fun being all together!

At the end of the night, we had to say goodbye to Gav, Shawn and Camille.  It was sad.... 

I know that they will have a great new adventure in Pensacola, but I will miss them very much.

I took lots of pics...to see them all, click HERE.

Woolf Week

This past week, we got to spend it playing with the WOOLFS!  They showed up Monday night and stayed with us until yesterday.  We spent the week hanging out and playing at the beach and Knotts Berry Farm and swimming at Nana's pool.  Jeremy even watched the kids one night, so that Shauna and I could get a girls night.  It was so much fun.....and I am so exhausted!  Here are some shots of the week:

Kids so happy to be together again!  Monday night

Pancakes for breakfast before the beach

Tuesday:  Carlsbad Beach Day

Wednesday was the 4th of July and we spent it at the beach with my family.  I'll be doing a whole separate post for that....

Thursday:  I stayed home with these 3 and took them to Chuck E Cheese.

 Shauna took the big kids to Knotts Berry Farm:

Friday, we got to have my nephews join us and we went swimming at the Ranch.

 Everyone loves playing the "Theme" Game.

Even though we were both thoroughly exhausted, we went out to dinner (Mi Guadalajara) and did a little shopping.  We loved having them here....it feels so normal and natural having them here with us.  I will miss them when they leave for Minnesota...again!

Me & My Bestie

Playing with the Bauers

The Bug, The Bear & The Bean

Saturday was another one of Colby's soccer games, here in California.  So, we packed up the fam and headed up to LA to see the game and the whole Bauer clan!  BYU beat the LA team 2-1.  Colby scored the first goal (oh yeah)!  It was so fun to see the whole family!  Here's some fun pix of the night:

I feel so blessed to have these people in my life!  I love them so much and am so proud of all of them!  I had a smile on my face the whole drive home!

Cub Scout Camp

Last Week, Luke was at Cub Scout Day Camp in Carlsbad.  He had such a great time with his camp buddy Gavin.  It was a swim camp and he didn't pass the swim test, but that didn't stop him from going and having a great time each day.

 I got to volunteer 3 of the days.  I was in charge of the songs and cheers, as well as helping with crafts and cooking.  I took my job seriously and made some fun hats each day!

It was a fun and tiring week, but my Lukey loves scouts and that makes me very happy!

My Brother, the Opthamologist

Saturday the 23rd of June, Jeremy and I got to go down to Coronado and see my brother graduate from Residency.  It was really neat!  He has worked so hard and waited so long for this day! 

He not only graduated, but was awarded the Research Award.  He was surprised...but I wasn't.  He is such a stud!

I wasn't sure what to give the Opthamologist, so I googled "gifts for Opthamologists" and found a couple little cute things-  A key chain for Shawna -

"My heart belongs to an Opthamologist"

And I got this silly mug for Gav-

I'm so proud of him and excited for him and his family, as they get to be done with school and just enjoy their new adventure in Florida. 

I'm so glad we got to be there with him on his special night!

Have fun being the Director of Opthamology at Naval Med Ctr Pensacola!  Way to go Little Bro!