and so it begins....

a few pictures from the last few years...


Family Christmas picture 2008...

Christmas morning - 2008
Sun is up and presents are still unopened...
how could I let this happen???

2009 - Cub Scouts Blue and Gold Dinner
The boys had to make a cake and the moms couldn't help!
it was pure torture for me...



June 2009 - Camp Pendleton 10k Mud Run
Brad had fun getting down and dirty...

June 2009 - Nathan got braces!!!

2009 - San Diego Comic Con
This kid was in HEAVEN...


...so was this one...

Summer 2009 - Utah - Riley Family Reunion


Nathan's first fish!!!

Halloween 2009 - The King

I made this costume all by myself...there were a lot
of blood sweat and tears put into this costume...
my favorite part??? THE CAPE!

and the attitude.... love this kid!

Christmas 2009
same place - different year - i'm pretty sure that
Christmas 2010 will look almost identical - again the sun
is up and presents are unopened?? sheesh...

Christmas 2009 - no family photo this year...

2010 Cub Scouts - Blue and Gold Dinner
Nathan wanted to make a big donut cake - I looked online
and found a cake pan in the shape of a donut at
Williams Sonoma isn't this the most awesome idea???
It just so happened that the Simpson's were
celebrating 20 years on TV that year too....


2010 - 5th grade field trip to my families farm -
the Riley Farm in Oak Glen, CA - the kids got to
watch and participate in colonial reinactments. fun times....

TO BE CONTINUED....

i think i'll take a mulligan...

3/21/2009???  wow... i guess i've been...busy?? lazy?? boring?? maybe a little "all of the above"??...  I'm sure there have been a few things I could have blogged about between then and now.??..   Holy smokes - the last time i blogged nathan was still in the single digits!  I actually had good intentions - I wasn't going to post again until i did my "pay it forward" (see previous post) so if Ann, Alicia and Nichole are reading this then please let me know if you have not received* the extremely cute, amazingly thoughtful,100% homemade and better than you ever dreamed of gift from me.

for all who care i will be going through over two years worth of pictures and will post a few of my faves in the near future but don't hold your breath...  :)

(*estimated delivery time - give or take a decade) 

Pay It Forward!!!

So, here's how it works: the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year a handmade gift from me. What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise! The catch is that you must participate as well. Before you leave your comment, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going (or copy and paste like I did). Then come back, let me know you're going to play and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift! Come and play!!

16 years and counting

December 19, 1992

Last Friday we celebrated our 16 year wedding anniversary. Wow 16 years has gone by so fast. How can it seriously be 16 years already??

Wicked fun!

Last Saturday my mom and I went to LA and saw Wicked! We had so much fun. I got the CD and have been listening to it non-stop since then. Everytime I hear Defying Gravity I get the goosebumps. Nathan is so cute...the other day he told me that he thinks it would be fun to go to a musical. I so wish I could take him to see this - I know he'd love it.

Thanks for the fantastic time Mom!

Halloween...finally

This year for Halloween Nathan wanted to be a Biker Skeleton. Here he is getting ready for the annual ward trunk or treat...

with the bandana without makeup

with grandma snow white

Clayton, Sarah and Nathan

Nathan, Clayton and Maleah.

At mom and dad's after trick or treating.

all the loot - he made piles and wrote notes on them letting us know which piles we were allowed to take from. What a turkey - this kid never even eats his candy yet places restrictions on what we can and can not have. Check out the Disneyland pennant - 30th year??? When Nathan was looking at it he said..."wait, they've been around for longer than 50 years!" HA! 20+ year old halloween treat.

This is for Steph...me in Hannah's "hot n spicy" wig - it's a wig for adults (i tried to say that a few different ways and any way that i said "adult" sounded wrong) Hannah was Ariel and Steph found this wig that worked perfect. By the end of the night I think we had all tried it on...Brad says that we are easily amused - i certainly dont' know what he's talking about - i'll spare Kelli, Doug, Brad, Steph, Dad and Mom and only post this pic of me... :)

disneyland

We love going to Disneyland and go every chance we get.

A bunch of us met on Matt's birthday...

Nathan and his best friend Clayton
we just so happened to run into Clayton and his mom. small world

California Adventure

strange boy

apparently Nathan has joined the Casey Jr. chain gang...

sign flasher

can't get enough of casey' jr.

Brad said we looked homeless...I guess main street disneyland wouldn't be such a bad place to be homeless.

Mission Bay Triathlon - 2008

Brad did the Mission Bay Triathlon again this year. He improved on his time - I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that he actually trained this year! Here are a few pics from the day.

Brad in the transition area.

I'm happy to report that this year was nude free - Last year this guy dropped his pants 15 feet from where i was standing. what the heck man this isn't blacks
Nathan standing in the same spot I stood in last year (see above note)

Brad and Nathan before the swim - is Nathan tough or homeless?

my cutie...waiting patiently

bike to...

run - Brad said i got this same shot of him last year - HA!

after race skating

how i spent my summer vacation...

with all that life has going on i attempt to finally finish this post - i actually started this back in September - it is now October 26th...oh blah dee

seriously what vacation? I remember when I was a kid I used to think that you went to school for a year then had summer vacation for a year. What a terrible day when I realized how wrong I was - and then another terrible day when I realized that when you work there is no such thing as a 3 month break. Oh well.

So besides giving Nathan the "cheese touch" as often as possible (see Diary of a Wimpy Kid book volume 1) here are some pictures of how we spent our summer vacation...

we celebrated dad and all 60 of his years!!

we played in newport

i made my first icing roses!! watch out mom...

I witnessed this guy getting baptized in Carlsbad

and this kid having a blast!

FINALLY got to swim!

we moved maddie into her new college life...wait that's nathan sitting on a college girls bed, with a college girl, in the college girls room! isn't that bed awesome??? I put it together! i rule.

went to St. George and trespassed at Sand Hollow

drove recklessly in the church parking lot

and climbed and hiked everything we could...

fun times were had by all!