Canada- Take ONE

Whew! What a fun trip! We just returned from a little family vacation to Alberta, Canada. After a few days for R&R and unpacking and a beach day thrown in there, I am ready to edit and post all of the fun photos I took while on our trip!
BUT... I know some of you might get a little overwhelmed with too much visual stimulation thrown at you all at once. SO... I will just do a little at a time and fill you in on all our exciting adventures in the land of the Mounties. ;)



Plane ride #1- Out of LAX, bright and stinkin early!! Gabe was SO So SOOOO excited to ride on a plane... 4 planes to be exact (2 there and 2 home). Mr. and Mrs. Jones did their best to prepare for the long days of driving, flying, landing, transferring, going through customs, WALKING, waiting, flying again, landing again, then driving some more. All with our two little angel children, yeah right! ;)

Malia did OK on the plane. By OK I mean I don't think too many people were disturbed besides us. ;)

Landed in Calgary, Hannah and Allie took a quick stop for a little "flip flop" shoe shine by Gabe.

Back up to the skies. Gabe passed out before we even left the ground... Malia was soon to follow. Finally, a little break and time to enjoy the views from the sky.

Auntie and Allie having a little treat on the plane.

Sleeping beauty with her Mr. Jones.

And YES.... This was our connector flight!! Auntie Michelle almost had a cow when she saw what we would be flying in. I thought it was kind of fun. Here is Grammy and Hannah getting off the plane in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Then hopped in the trucks and another 1 1/2 hour drive to Draton Valley... land of oil! That is where Grammy's birth family reunion would be held. Here is a photo of the views out of the window on our drive. SO beautiful. They are canola fields. Can you believe it! That is where all that canola oil in your pantry comes from!

After a good 1st nights rest, Malia is introduced to "peanut". The cutest little pupper around. Peanut did not know what she was in for with this little monster! Luckily her Mommy Peck was close at hand to keep the pinching to a minimum.


Interpritation of what Peanut is thinking, "Hurry up and take the picture and save me!!"


Now this was something special that you don't find just anywhere. This little bush produced the most delicious berries I have ever had! They are called Honey Berries. This was our first expirience with them, and hopefully not our last! Hannah and Allie plucked the whole bush to use in our homemade honey berry pancake breakfast.


The "fruits" of our labor...


What a honey berry looks like.


They tasted like a sweeter blueberry, but really hard to describe their exact flavor. Lets just say "yummy".


Mrs. Jones whipping up the pancakes and Uncle Dave cooking the sausage and bacon.


The breakfast club! Oh man am I CRAVING some of those pancakes right now! This is what you call breakfast on a farm, so delicious! We stayed with Grammy's cousins David and Peck. Their farm was right next door to David's Mom's cattle farm, Auntie Petra. This photo shows mostly her family and Grandpa Jackson.

Much more to come!! Check back soon!!

Skate Session with the Fam

Here are the rest of the photos I promised to post from our little skate sesh last Saturday morning. We have to get to the park at 7am to beat the "big kids" and get room for Gabe to skate around. He LOVES it and I think Daddy loves it equally as much. Sometimes Malia and I tag along. I used to skate a little, but now that I am prego I thought I would take some photos of my boys...


Gabe, showing off his moves


Taking a break to love Malia



Through the handlebars

My sweet boys

Now is this kid cool or what!?

In the bowl

The drop in sequence....






My cute booty girl

Forgot the shoes on the way out... so Malia got to show off her puties



Malia, getting a little fresh. I seriously worry about this girl sometimes

Notice the pinched fingers. It is a must for him while focusing on his skateboarding skills

Malia gets a turn

Skatepark Preview

Took the whole fam to the skate park last Saturday morning. Here is a preview... more to come soon.

My Job

How can you not fall in love with these faces!! I swear every time I see them I fall in love with them all over again. Isn't it just the best to be a Mother/Father? I have had, literally, like 20 jobs in my life time... everything from soap maker to lifeguard. Nothing compares to the job of being a parent. And let me tell you it is for sure a job! BUT, the most rewarding job you could ever have.
Being a parent has shown me that like any job, you can take it seriously, or just pass the time without much effort. And the rewards you reap depend on how dedicated and hard working you are. Not only that, but your efforts decide much of the success your children will have in life. My efforts will also determine the amount of joy and happiness being a parent gives me.
I used to watch these shows about Mothers who had wished they knew how hard it would be to be a parent. That if they had to do it over again they might not have gone down that road. I give them props for being honest, but honestly, I see now that they just have not learned the most important life lesson that you learn from being a parent.... selflessness. And the rewards of that lesson.
I used to worry that I might have those feelings (before I had kids) after starting a family. And although I think sometimes we all get a little self centered and remember the ease of life before kids, if I really think about it, I will remember that my heart has grown 3 times larger since bringing these little lovers into my home. The idea of Heavenly Father wanting us to "become like a child" truly makes sense, and I have never smiled or laughed so much in my entire life. I have never felt such a sense of importance and I have never been more grateful for a gift ever before than the gift of raising children, of being able to parent and pour all of myself into one thing knowing that the reward is beyond just me feeling good about it. It is all for someone else and that is the most rewarding feeling you could ever get... learning how to become Christlike. Which is pure love, Charity, selflessness. I am no longer numero uno, I can now understand how Heavenly Father can know each and every one of us, by name, and love each of us individually. How bringing more children into your life can only make your ability to love greater than it was before. Yes, being a parent is the best job ever. I can't wait for the next job to arive in November ;)

Night time at the SD ZOO

The San Diego Zoo is open at night right now so we decided to head down to SD yesterday after the kids woke up from their naps. Well, Mike asked Gabe what he wanted to do and he said he wanted to go the the zoo so Mike and I looked at each other and said... why not!? It ended up being SO much fun!
It was pretty cool to see all the of the animals come alive at night time, and the crowds all go home!


Gabe has overcome his fear/embarrassment of taking photos on top of large animal statues. IN FACT... he HAD to get a picture on every single one we happened upon. They had a TON of them at the new elephant exhibit (SO COOL, you must go if you have not seen it yet).

Malia was all over the place, trying to bend bars to enter the exhibits, climb over the fences, and lean over the edge on the sky buckets. This girl makes me nervous!

Gabe and Mrs. Jones- So excited to be up in the sky at night!

This lion was playing with this lady and her cup! It was SO funny. Just like playing with a super huge cat and a toy. We also got to see the mail lion pace the fence and hear him roar! It was awesome.

Yet another animal photo...

I thought this tree was so cool. It looks like it is going to come alive and start talking to you!

And Gabe on a bird...

This is the secretary bird, way cool. And check out that enormous nest!

While I'm away (or on the computer) the kids will play...

Some of you have asked, " How do you have time to get so much blogging done!?" I have tried to answer this question as best as possible, but as they say, a picture tells a thousand words.
This was the state of my living room after posting blogs the other day. I usually deal with some sort of distraction about every 15 minutes, but this was a surprise when I walked into the living room. I swear when I went in there 20 min. earlier it was spotless. They had fun!
I spent the next 30 min. (while the kids napped) cleaning it up. BUT... on a positive note I got some extra things done that day- 1. clean out diaper bag, check 2. Find 3 pairs of Gabe's missing underwear- check (no idea where they came from, but they ended up on my entryway floor). 3. Re-organize the toy drawer- check.

Did you figure it out?

As you can see by our newly remodeled blog layout... we found out we are having a BOY!! YIPPEE!! We are SO SO SO excited. Mike and I both were leaning towards wanting a boy. We both really felt like it was a boy, and that made us start to get used to the idea of it being a boy, and then when the time came to find out we got a little worried that we might be disappointed if it was a girl. I guess you never know what your reaction will be until you know, but I was so afraid I would not be as grateful as I should be if it was a girl... thankfully we were right and I didn't have to find out! ;) I am so stoked to have another little lover boy around here. Now for the name... we will let you know when we figure it out. We have nothing yet, time to get started!

The good with the bad

As some of you may know we have started feeling the blow of our Countries difficult economic times. Mike has recently found out he is getting laid off and has had no luck what so ever of finding a new position. Times are tough... but, I feel SO lucky in a way to be going through this. Because, with every struggle, comes a lesson to learn. And with every struggle we are able to overcome, comes a new or renewed appreciation for all that we have, it makes us better and stronger.
At first the unknown made us all a little stressed out and worried about the trial we were about to face. We do know there are and will be more trials associated with our current situation, but the outpouring of help and support is what has given us the ability to move forward with our heads high and our emotions positive. SO many people have lended a hand and asked what they could do to help us out. People are constantly telling us they are praying for our little family and we can just feel the love surrounding us. I want to say thank you to all of our friends and family. We could not get through this without you.
This situation has made me realize how skewed my perspective was of what I "need" vs. what I "want". And I now can really understand why my grandparents and parents have always saved their money, even without any future plan for it. They have been great examples of "living below their means". How grateful I am for their examples.
We truly feel lifted up and supported by so many kind and wonderful people. We are able to stay in our home thanks to the owners of our home releasing us of any rent payment for the next few months, we are able to pay our bills through the little money we will be receiving and the help of family and church- In what other time would we be taken care of like this? I think of those without homes and without people to turn to. I am grateful for the loved ones in my life who have stayed prepared, so that when the time came, they could help us. Their examples will be what drives me to continue to prepare ourselves when we are back on our feet. Not only to be prepared for our future, but to BE ABLE to give charity to others and help when needed.

4th of July- Malia... over exposed

4th of July this year- a pancake breakfast filled us to the brim, then off to Dana Point Harbor to meet up with the Proffits for a little beach BBQ and birthday celebration for my friend Lisa. The kids enjoyed playing at the "baby beach" (which I now get why it is called that! You don't have to worry so much about your babies... no waves to knock them over). Then, back home for naps and a DELICIOUS dinner at Grandma Melinda's house- 3 kinds of ribs, bean salad, potato salad, homemade lemonade, cupcakes and homemade ice cream! Besides making the potato salad I did not have to cook one thing all day! And we ate SO much good food. Then back home to walk to the beach to see the fireworks. This Mrs. Jones had to watch them from the front yard because Malia pooped out before we could finish off the day... but still got to see a great show from the yard! Hope you enjoyed celebrating your independence as well. Happy 4th!!


Here is our little beach bunny in her super cute roxy bikini.. over exposed ;)



Do you think Gabe was having fun!? He was dancing across the beach. And if I do say so myself.. his hair was looking AMAZING as usual.

Splashing Mommy with the unusually cold July ocean water.

Mrs. Jones and the "baby bump" hangin with her girl Malia

Our little swimmer boy

Gabers just finished his second round of swim lessons and we officially have a swimmer!! He did so great and loved every second of it... which made Mrs.Jones VERY happy. I have very different memories of swim lessons when I was a child. Lets just say the only thing that got me through them was my Mother's promise of a A&W root beer float after every lesson. Gabe is my little fish though, and he just did so well. He can now swim to us from the side, or swim back to the side from us. Way to go Gabe! We are so proud of all of your hard work!

A fun visitor...

Gabe misses this girl SOOOO much!! We had a blast playing with Maty, Mrs. Jones' second cousin, all last week. She stayed at our house for a few days while visiting all of us here in CA from MO. We went to the pool and the beach and can I tell how great she was with Malia and Gabe!? He just fell in love with her and now he can't stop talking about how Maty is his FAVORITE. He cried all day after she left.
Thanks for visiting us Maty!! We will miss you and can't wait to see you in 3 years ;) Love you!

Father's Day

Gabe, Malia, and Mrs. Jones spent ALL day making Daddy a handmade father's day card and wrapping this present. Gabe did such a good job following instruction on how to wrap and where to place the tape and did such a great job! These kids really love their Daddy. And Daddy LOVED his 2 new pairs of rainbow sandals.