Chris's last day of school

On June 20th Chris had his last day of school. He was so lucky to have been at a great school with two amazing teachers, Miss Julie and Miss JoDee. Chris has perfected the alphabet, numbers, learning to write, colors and shapes. Both he and I are looking forward to the 4-year old class next year with three days a week. On the last day of school they performed some songs for the parents, did one last final craft and then went in the backward to play in the pools and on the slip and slide.

Hugs from Miss Julie

Patiently waiting to go out and play in the pool.

Loving the ice cream!

Yosemite with the girls

So I have lived in California for 30 years now....you would think I have been to Yosemite. Nope! So a few girls and I packed our things and headed to the hills for a few days to relax, regroup and get refreshed being in God's beautiful creation. Yosemite lived up to all it's rave reviews...and we had a great time with the girls.

Sara and Alison in our crazy pink hats

Sara, Brenda, and Alison looking at one of the first views of the valley

Not quite sure if this is our BEST side!

New addition to the family...

Welcome Aron!

Our family is growing, but only in the animal department....no more babies from this mama! Last week Bryan was given the opportunity to join the K9 unit for the Alameda County Sheriff's Department. Yesterday morning Aron officially joined the clan. He is a 3 1/2 year old German Shepard from Czechoslovakia. Aron will start going to work with Bryan next week. In a few weeks he and Aron will go to dog school for a month, after that they will be certified to patrol the streets of Castro Valley. We have a very bilingual family now considering Sierra (our 3 year old German Shepard) speaks German and now Aron speaks Czech. Chris is already learning a few Czech words. He is more then excited about having a new dog in the family, he has not stopped talking about him yet! We are very proud of Bryan and excited about this great new opportunity he was given.

The kids Father's Day pictures

For Father's day this year I took the kids to get some pictures for Daddy. They were so well behaved and actually cooperated with me. Which for my kids is huge. usually it is a regular three ring circus when we try and do anything like this. Enjoy the pictures.....the are precious.

Chris & Dani's Birthday Party

Here are few of the great pictures my friend Shannen took at the kids party a few weeks ago. Chris and Dani had a great time with about 30 of their friends.....yikes (that was a lot of little people.) Dani enjoyed her first taste of cake and tried with all her might to lift the whole thing up with both hands. Chris was a great big brother and gladly helped her blow out her candle and eat her cake. Both of our kids are blessed to have such great kids that they will be able to grow up with and call friends!

Tahoe Getaway

After a fun birthday party for the kids (pictures to come soon) we went to Tahoe with Bryan's family for a few days. The kids had a great time running around in the trees, on the beach at Lake Tahoe, hiking around Emerald Bay and hanging out around the house. Turns out Dani loves the beach and Chris was a huge fan of hiking in the mountains.

having some good laughs with auntie brooke

classic self portrait

dad & chris and what is left of "big tree"

dani enjoys her first bite of ice cream

fun at commons beach

did you say something mom?

i think i look better in the hat mom

all four of us enjoying the view at emerald bay

Trip to the pool

Yesterday was spent poolside with the Benson's in Moraga. Dani enjoyed her first time in the pool while Chris and Hailey had a blast running around the kiddie pool. It was the perfect way to spend a very hot day.

I really don't think you can get much cutter than this!

She is ready for the pool

Happy 30th Birthday Alison.

For those keeping track, yes Alison did turn 30 last month on April 8th, but we needed to wait a little bit so she could celebrate with her good friend Sara who turns 30 this month. Last Friday we gathered at Superfrank's Fun Adventure with 75-80 of our good friends and family to celebrate. What 30 year old wouldn't want to spend their party playing dodgeball, air hockey, wack-a-duck, and skeet ball. This was a perfect fit for Sara and Alison.

The birthday girls!

Our AMAZING cake!

Everyone loves sparkling candles.

Sheree, Alison and Joanna (friends from church.)

Krista and Ali in an intense air hockey game.

Alison, her mom and sister Amy

Krista, Alison and Amy....these girls have been friends through it all for 2 decades now!

Fun at the Asparagus Festival

Yet another benefit to living in T-town is that we are close to Stockton so we can go to Annual Asparagus Festival. The kids had a great time walking around and then enjoying the dozens of different bounce houses. This was a dream for Chris...he did not know what one to jump in first. Believe it or not we were able to get him out of the houses long enough to go on a few rides. Dani just hung out with us while we walked around watching everyone munch on their deep fried asparagus and washing it down with asparagus margaritas.