Calaveras

Audrey trying to fish at Beaver Creek.
Family minus Wyatt. Kirsten was nice enough to take him back to camp so we could enjoy the walk. Otherwise we probably would have been carrying him most of the way.
These girls love to pose! Check out Audrey!

Sassy Addie!
Pregnant Me
Beaver Creek. Jerm was trying to fill in the pool a little better. But Wyatt was undoing it as he worked! Dam! :)
Cozette and her Daddy
Hercules (the tree, even though I know you were all thinking Jeremy)

Wyatt is trying to say "Cheese".
Our one rainbow trout that we caught by default. Jerm and I were out canoing with Wyatt and Cozette when we saw this live fish stuck under a branch. We realized he was caught on a line that got tangled in the branch, so Jerm pulled it up. We even ate it that night, thanks to Gramma doing all the dirty work of gutting it and stuff. It was very good and mild. Cozette liked when my Mom put the rope through it's mouth when it had died so she could "walk" it around in the water. It looks small in the picture, but it was about nine inches long.
A giant tree!
Cute Isaac on the way to Jr. Cubs (they taught the kids about butterflies that day)Atalie

Atalie and her fish that we let go. We weren't sure if you could eat them, so we just did catch and release.
Wyatt casting in the water

The meadow Kirsten trying her hand at fishing at Alpine Lake. It was about 8,000 feet up and very beautiful. We even saw a bald eagle.
Wyatt and Jerm on the way to Jr. Cubs.

Our trip to Calaveras Big Tree State Park was really nice. We left Camarillo on Wednesday and made it up there by 3PM to find that it was at least 95 degrees! Luckily we got to go swimming at this little reservoir. Thank goodness for water. The air was a bit yucky due to all the fires in Northern Calif, but the pine tree smell was still very prevalent.
Atalie caught her first fish that afternoon after only a few casts into the water. Wyatt loved sitting in the water or right next to it casting his little Superman pole into the water. His came with a red plastic fish that he could practice casting with and he had a blast. Good thing, too, because I don't think a hook would have been a great idea!
Cozette gets the most patient fisherman award. She fished all week without a complaint and didn't catch a single thing. At Beaver Creek later in the week, she had a trout bite on her hook, but we didn't get it in time. Too bad we didn't just have a net that we could've scooped it out with. She was great and enjoyed it a lot.
We really enjoyed the 1.5 mile walk through the grove of Giant Sequoias. They were just amazing! The mosquitoes loved us, especially Audrey. She had fourteen bites just in the first two days I think. Poor thing. The girls loved their Jr. Ranger and Jr. Cub programs and hope to find one close to home. I'm hoping maybe Carpenteria has that program, but we'll see. Supposedly every park is supposed to have it, but according to the Ranger, there are only a few.
I was so grateful that Jeremy could get the time off work to come with us and relax. He's such a great camper and he's great at preparing the meals, too.
We didn't see any bears, but we saw lots of chikarees which are these little squirrels that try to steal your food and lots of Stellar blue Jays. We camped right next to a meadow which had a boardwalk going right down the middle of it to prevent it being trampled and the kids loved that. Even Wyatt and Isaac went out there one time when we weren't looking. Otherwise these two boys were busy pushing their trucks in the dirt and were soooo filthy by the end of the day.
Thank you Mom and Dad for letting us come up with you. It was a great trip! We also enjoyed seeing Ben and Leslie in their new place as well. Thanks for the lunch, Les!

My Brother the Fire Fighter

I believe that there are only a few times in someone’s life when you just feel overwhelmed with pride on behalf of someone else. I am not talking about “one of the best days of your life” like getting married or having a child, but rather a huge sense of accomplishment on behalf of someone else and the great feeling that comes because you are lucky enough to be a part of their life. Well, this is the first time in my life, so far, that I have felt that. You see, my brother Brian, is officially a Fire Fighter/EMT for the city of Tucson, AZ.
I was able to attend his graduation ceremony on Thursday 6/19 and Friday 6/20. I would believe that most of you that read this blog know Brian and the kind of person he is. Brian has a huge heart and doesn’t have an enemy in the world. If for some reason you don’t like Brian, there is something seriously wrong with you. Brian is a carefree soul yet a great friend to many and will be there to help you out in a jam. (Why do I feel like I am writing an obituary here?!)
Those who are going to be working with him will realize quickly that he is loyal and will have your back in whatever you do. You are lucky to have such a friend. I have always looked up to my little brother (literally and figuratively) and have even more of a reason to do so now.
I think one of the reason’s I am so proud of him is that he is so passionate about everything he does; he seems to want to do everything! It seemed for a few years that he had a new passion about a career every few weeks. I will be honest and say I was a little worried about him for a while, yet at the same time a little jealous because I don’t have that passion towards any career. Except for maybe a few years ago, when I was intent on being a fire fighter myself and realizing it was too late for me because I wouldn’t be able to care of my family if I did (no regrets!). So, for him to follow through on this was a real big deal, especially because he has been working at it so hard for at least the last year or so. He went through EMT training, community college fire academy, and then was blessed enough to get hired his first time through for TFD (22 week academy). I understand that even in Arizona it takes three to four times through the tests before they will hire you and he got through on his first try!
So here’s to my little brother the Fire Fighter! Good luck bro and be safe!
(I finally got a picture up, too bad it's really dark. Brian is in his uniform and has his badge on his left side. The badge is a lot heavier than it looks!)

Jeremy's Birthday

This Sunday, the 22nd is Jerm's 32nd birthday! He'll be going out of town this Thursday until Saturday night to go to his brother Brian's Fire Academy Graduation. We are very proud of Brian! And, Jerm is also getting his new bike, that, thanks to my Uncle Scott is awaiting him in Mesa. Jerm is very excited about it and I'm sure will be posting pictures of it on here for all of you to enjoy! Anyway, I wanted to post his wish list for those of you who may be interested. Please don't feel obligated! It is a wish list, so there are some expensive things on here!
Here it is:

Tools
Sawz-All
19V Cordless drill
Jigsaw
Big Tool Box on Wheels

Movies
Return of the King (Extended Version)
Jason Bourne Trilogy
Transformers
Indiana Jones Trilogy
Long Way Down

House Related
Entertainment Center
Matching Couches for living room
Railing for upper backyard
Lighting for outside house
Wood to make a work bench
Lighting for inside garage

Motorcycle Related
Gift card for Cycle Gear
Helmet Cam (ebay user “extremehelmetcams” seems to have the best ones)
Hydraulic Motorcycle work stand (approx $200)
Camelbak backpack w/ new bladder (not too big of one. Probably HAWG size)
Riding gear
Scott 89Xi Desert Goggle ($50)
No Toil brand air filter cleaner and oil

Other
iTunes Gift Cards
Apple A/V cord to use video iPod as output ($20)
garden kneeling pads (one for work and one for the garage)
Bike light for his bicycle and a flashing red one for the back

If you want to know what I got him, you'll have to call or email to find out. I don't want to give anything away! We're going to celebrate with a little cake and ice cream on Sunday and his favorite meal of homemade taquitos and guacamole. I hope it's not too hot!

Santa Barbara Trip

Jeremy and I decided that since we are having a baby for our anniversary, that we better get away for a couple of days before I get too huge and before the baby comes. We chose Santa Barbara which is always so nice. The weather could not have been more perfect! We found this great Bed and Breakfast with awesome service and very yummy food. It also had a double jacuzzi in the room!

We got up there on Friday night about 6 and rented Segways. When Jerm told me what we were doing, I was like, okay, what are Segways? I did know what they were, but had forgotten their name. His mom had the idea to do it and it was sooo fun! These machines are so cool and you can just relax on them, as much as you can while standing. The guys who took us on a tour took us all the way down to Butterfly Beach which happens to be in front of the Biltmore in Montecito. It was gorgeous! No butterflies this time of year, but the sun was starting to go down and it wasn't too cold.

After the Segways and a great missionary experience with Bill our guide, we went to the FisHouse which was soooo good! Jerm and I shared some Mahi Mahi with Mango salsa on top, and for dessert we had Bananas with pastry on top, drowned in a caramel cinnamon sauce and vanilla ice cream.

The next morning we got up to a delicious breakfast on the patio that started off with homemade granola, fresh cut up strawberries, than a Baked Egg dish finishing with Blueberry muffins. We were full until about 2PM. We strolled around the Mission and saw all these cool sidewalk chalk drawings. We're not talking kids drawing, but portraits and amazing works of art! Then we drove up to the Botanical gardens and did the mile walk around and saw some gorgeous red Woods. Poor Jerm was a little nervous for most of the walk because the trail was lined with poison oak and he is pretty allergic to the stuff.

After a nice nap and lunch at Anderson's on State Street, we got a one hour massage! Wow, was that heaven! These two ladies who worked on us were so good! Mine had been a midwife before and knew exactly what to work on to make my hips feel better. I definitely want to go back before I have this baby. We walked out of there with these huge smiles on our faces! If you've never gotten a professional massage, it is well worth the money!

Our dinner that night was descent, but I don't think Jerm and I would go back there. It was a little too pricey for the quality, but we still had a nice time.

It was just great to get away and relax. Thank you Mom and Dad and whomever else for watching and loving our kids.

Jeremy's "Mancation"

Donner's Pass. Note the snow in the background.

Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe

Well, I don't know how many guys actually read this blog if any. I honestly don't know the last time I read someone's blog unless Ditte was showing me something. With that being said, unless you are a motorcycle enthusiast you may not understand some of this.

So I flew up to Ben and Leslie Ashby's house on Thursday night to Sacramento for a little "Mancation" that Ben and I have been trying to plan for a while. Our objective: motorcycle overload! Luckily Ben has two street bikes (Honda Magna and a Suzuki Bandit) that we swapped back and forth. We left the Ashby's house on a Friday morning just in time for record breaking heat temperatures!

I think most you know that I have been riding dirt bikes since I was around 9 years old, but I don't really have a lot of experience riding street bikes. I have always been hesitant towards street bikes and haven't had a huge desire to ride street until Erik and I rented Harley's in Kauai. I loved it! Of course on Kauai the fastest speed limit on the whole island is like 45mph. So I had to tell Ben (a CHP officer that still rides a motorcycle to work) to make sure and not ditch me in any traffic splitting cars. Leslie's uncle Dana also went and they were really good about it until this little moped looking motorcycle past us! At the next gas stop he informed me that if a moped past us again I was on my own! We laughed about that for a while. That's when we got off of the highway and into the mountains! I am not a speed freak, but man do I love working a motorcycle back and forth in curvy mountain roads! That's what made the whole trip worth while to me.

As we are climbing the mountains towards South Lake Tahoe the temperatures starting dropping and it was just perfect. In some spots there are still 4 feet of snow piled up there. I have never been to Lake Tahoe and now understand the phrase, "Help keep Tahoe blue". I was blown away by how beautiful it was up there and how clear the water is.

We had lunch there and then moved on our way around the lake (it's freakin huge!) and went through Donner's Pass (lots of snow up there too) and worked our way back into the stinking hot Sacramento valley.

We went and saw "Iron Man" that night which was pretty good. We then went to Infineon Raceway just outside the bay area to watch a super bike race (streetbikes) but pleasantly found out that there was a supermoto track as well as a motocross track there! They had shuttles running back and forth between all the tracks and just had a blast. Geoff Aaron, a 10 times trials champion (look him up on youtube, you will be amazed what he can do on a bike!) was there doing a trials show which I just kept shaking my head because I couldn't believe the stuff he does on a bike! Curtis, Ben's son, came with us and loved it too. On the way back we stopped by Ben's work (the CHP Academy) and Ben showed me around a little bit. Ben left me and Curtis alone for a few minutes, and when he came back, Curtis and I had hid ourselves and blasted Ben with two nerf guns that he had at his desk! I am glad now that no one else came through that door, because I might have been in a little bit of trouble! Enjoy the pictures. Thanks Leslie for letting Ben play with me!

Update

Things are going well for us. Jeremy just got back from a "mancation" with our friend Ben Ashby, but it's up to him to post about that. I have my garden growing and am still thinking of things to put in it. I love getting outside and working in it.

My pregnancy belly is getting bigger and bigger and it's a little tricky for me to keep up with Kirsten on our morning walks. Currently I am trying to potty train Wyatt, and so far we have been pretty successful! He's been ready for a little while, but I have not been wanting to commit whole heartedly, but alas, I have given in.

We went to see Wicked a couple of weeks ago and the girls have been asking when they can again. It's a great show and amazing how these people can sing like that!

We only have about 4 more weeks of school and we are all excited about that! I am determined to be a bit more organized this year so that we can utilize our time for maximum fun! But not to the point of exhaustion, because who wants cranky kids or parents!

I guess that's it for now. We have been enjoying some hot weather for May, so we bought a slip and slide that the kids just love. Our grass doesn't love it so much, but that can grow back!

Some people are now just realizing I'm pregnant. I think before they just thought I was putting on a few pounds. And it's funny how much bigger you feel, than you actually look. At least I don't think I look that big!

Oh yeah, Mother's Day was great! I was so proud of Jerm for making me a yummy five course meal! He was quite the chef, I thought I better make him an apron for the next time he does that!

Baby # 4!!

Just wanted to let the five of you know who actually read my blog, that we are having another boy! I guess it is the season for boys because I know 5 other women who are having boys this year! It's great! We are all very excited. Atalie giggled when she saw the little penis in the ultrasound picture!
Speaking of Atalie, today when she got home from school she told me casually that she caught some lady bugs at school and brought them home in her back pack. I asked her if she was serious and she said yes. So thinking about these poor lady bugs, I hoped that none had gotten squished in there. We opened it up and found four healthy lady bugs and put them in our garden. Atalie was just thinking of ways to help out our garden! It was very sweet!
I'm going to Utah with my mom and sisters for the weekend for Women's Conference! It should be fun as long as I don't turn into grumpy pants like I tend to do around my family! Sorry family! I really do love you all! I know Jeremy will be great with the kids. He gets to go on a field trip with Atalie on Friday, and I know she's excited about it! What a great husband I have!