Busy, busy busy.......

These posts over the summer are coming fewer and farther between. I thought that I would have so much more time but we are keeping ourselves extremely busy. We have had family in for the last week and have been golfing, bowling, swimming, beach trips and lots of family BBQ's. Don is still off of work and it has been absolutely wonderful. He is still a little sore but doing better each day. I think he will be off for another week and I will make sure to keep him busy with lots of activities!!! Here are some pics of the last week.....






Emily, Ethan, Gavin, Lona and TT in the jacuzzi.

Trevor wanted to take his own picture which is the reason why he was not in the last picture.

Ethan and TT snuggling!

All of the kiddos playing Disney Bingo!

Gavin wearing Don's hat.

My mom tackling Christy...over what I cannot remember, these two are two pees in a pod, for sure!

Ethan dressing up in Don's gear....not sure who enjoyed it more, Don or Ethan???

Trevor playing basketball with all the "big" boys.

Ethan, Emily, Trevor. TT and Addison at Auntie Carol's house.

Kelly, Ethan and Don at the golf course. I was there too but taking the picture. We have golfed a couple of times the last week and have had so much fun. We used to golf quite a bit before kids....you know how that goes.

Trevor bowling with his daddy. He truly CANNOT get enough of him!!! And, I cannot get enough of the two of them.......there is nothing better than a boy loving his daddy and his daddy completely in love with him!!!

He loves his baby girl too. The two of them bowling!

Ethan, Emily and TT at the bowling alley.

Last but definitely not least....those of you who came to TT's party, not sure if your kids are like mine, BUT, mine want nothing more than to listen to the party favor CD. Here is a video of Trev singing "Take me out to the ballgame".

TT's Birthday Party

TT blowing out her candles. We had to practice this for like 2 weeks every single night before Trevor turned 2. TT has been blowing out candles for at least 6 months!! There were about 50 people in our house singing to her, the look on her face was priceless, she was in heaven!!!!

Cousin Emily playing with barbies with TT, Emily LOVES barbies!

The kids being infected by the worst flu virus known to mankind while in the jumper.

Emily and Brady. Brady was infatuated with her all day, it was so cute!!

Julie showing her true colors by wearing her MAYFAIR softball sweatshirt.

Christy and baby Addison.

Kate enjoying her cupcake.

OMG, look at that tongue!!! Aubrey loves her frosting.

Ruby looking like she is in a sugar coma.

Kyla smiling for the camera. Jeana, Angie and Shannon (my blogging buddies)

WOW, it has been a very very eventful week. Taylor's party was a huge success (minus the sickness that everyone got afterward). Luckily we all made it through the party without getting sick! All of our friends and family came out to celebrate and she had a blast. Thank you all for coming and of course you were all too generous on her gifts. We are so thankful and truly blessed to have so many wonderful family and friends. Our family helped us so much in getting this party together and we wouldn't have been able to do it without them. With Don's accident happening right before the party he was limited on what he could do so the rest of our family really stepped it up and we are so thankful!!

Now onto my darling daughter!! I CANNOT believe that you are 2 already, where in the world has the time gone?? You came into our lives a little quicker than expected and although it has been tough we wouldn't change a thing. You are the most loving little girl around. You have the best smile and give out the best kisses ever. Everybody loves to kiss you because you pucker up so big and have those nicest lips (just like your dad). You are definitely a "mama's girl" and although it sometimes drive me crazy, I have to admit that deep down I absolutely LOVE it! Your face can light up any room and your laugh can make a bad day instantly better. You are very stubborn and love to throw a fit when you don't get your way, but that is normal for a 2 year old, right??? You are much more verbal than your brother was so I am hoping that the fits don't last as long as they did with him because I think you understand more than he did (we will see). You call Trevor "buddy" because you are trying to say brothy and it is the cutest thing ever. You follow him around everywhere he goes and want to do everything he does. You are so daring and want to climb and jump on everything, nobody can believe that you are only 2. You bring so much joy and happiness into our life, mommy and daddy love you more than anything!!

Happy Birthday TT

I have so much to write about and lots of pictures to post from Taylors birthday party, BUT, our family has gotten the worst flu bug ever and we have all been so so sick. I finally feel half way decent tonight but Don is still sick and Taylor is still not 100% If you were at our party on Saturday and you or your kids came down with this bug I am so sorry, it started with Trevor. I woke up Sunday with it (so bad that I had to just eat my ticket to see Wicked-I couldn't get out of bed) Taylor got it around 4 pm, Don got it at 2am, and then throughout the day:Kelly, my mom, Ethan, Emily, Christy, Brian Allen, Anthony Feolo, Miles and Morgan McAndrew and tonight poor little Abby Bean. Again, I'm so sorry if you get it. It goes quickly but it kicks your butt! I will write more tomorrow, hopefully!

Alive and Well....It's a Miracle!!

Don's uniform that was cut off of him by the firefighters.

The front right part of his car.

The front left part of the car.

What a scary 36 hours it has been. Don went into work on Tuesday night at normal time for his Friday shift (the last day of his work week). I was sound asleep at 1:30am when my home phone rang, nothing good can come of a phone call at this time. Already my heart is pounding and then the voice on the other end says his name and that he is Don's partner. He tells me that Don was involved in a very serious car crash and that I should try to come down to the hospital as soon as possible. He was very good about assuring me that he was ok and even letting me talk to Don before he was loaded into the ambulance. I called my mother in law who came to sit with the kids so that I could drive to Mission Viejo to meet up with Don at the hospital. When I got to the hospital he was in the trauma unit laying down with a neck stabilizer which makes it so he cannot move his neck at all. He was waiting for the results on a cat scan and a chest xray because he was sure that he had broken some ribs. He was able take short breaths but anything hard was extremely painful. Everything came back negative but they wanted him to stay for observation. About 12 hours after being admitted he was released and we are now safe and sound at home. How he does not have one scratch, any broken bones and so far no bruises is an absolute miracle. We are so thankful and so blessed that he did not get hurt bad.

How this all happened:he was going to a call and going at a pretty good speed, he hit a big puddle of water from a broken sprinkler and started to hydroplane. He ended up completely spinning out (as you can see from the picture, every inch of the car was hit) and hit the curb, two trees, a wall and broke a fire hydrant. He grabbed onto the steering wheel for dear life and ended up bending it in half. He was not wearing his seat belt but promised me he would start! He is still very sore and probably will be for a long while. They have him pretty doped up and so he is mostly sleeping. He will most likely be off of work for a few weeks, not a good way to have him home, but I will take it. Thank you all for keeping us in your prayers, it is truly amazing how blessed we are with our family and friends.

Soccer.......year 2!!!!

Team huddle after the first class.

After he scored his first goal!!!!

Looking back to make sure his mommy didn't leave him.

They had to race to the flags, it took him a couple times to figure it out but once he did he was in the front of the pact.



Trevor started his 2nd year of soccer (through the parks and rec) and boy what a difference a year makes. Most importantly, I get to sit along the sidelines and watch, unlike last year where I had to chase him around!!!! We went and bought him some cleats, shin guards and socks and I can't remember a time where he was more excited. He was probably one of the youngest because the age group is 3 1/2- 4 1/2 and he is not quite 3 1/2, but he did great. He woke up this morning asking if he had soccer practice, too cute. I can hardly wait for all the other sports!!!! Boys are sooooo much fun!!

San Onofre

All the kids sitting around the DVD player, this lasted about 5 minutes, if that!

Walking to the bathroom, notice the boys holding hands, they did it the whole way!

Brady and TT taking a break

The four kiddos playing outside of the tent!

Last night we met some friends who were camping in San Onofre. We still have not done that adventure, as much as Don would like too. We stopped off at Angie and Brian's house and Don and Brian left right away so they could get an afternoon surf session in. Angie and I stayed back to let the kids play and feed them dinner. We left about an hour after the boys and actually hung out at the campsite for about a half hour before they got back. I have to say that it was a million times better than I expected, although, not much for the kids to do. We roasted marshmallows and had smores and all the kids had a great time playing in the dirt and throwing rocks! It even inspired us to do our own camping trip before the summer is over!

What in the world is this????

Last night I went to happy hour with a few people from work. We went down to the Crabpot in Long Beach which is right on the water. We had so much fun catching up and visiting with each other and laughed our heads off. The best part of the night, was when our food came. My mom and I both ordered some spicy shrimp, this is what it looked like.......








It had legs, toes, nostrils, eyeballs and we even thought we saw some poop particles, disgusting!!!

THis is a picture of Julie peeling it for me. She peeled each shrimp for me because I refused to peel it myself and eat it.

This is our friend Todd peeling for my mom.

Not much stops us from eating food, as you can see, the finished product. Once I got passed the outside they actually tasted good!!!

Family Fun!!!

TT playing the piano at Aunt Carol's house.

Trevor holding cousin Addison at Grandma's breakfast.

TT and Auntie Nancy in the jacuzzi.

Trevor, TT and Auntie Kelly in the jacuzzi.

My aunt Nancy flew in from New York on Saturday for her annual beach trip to California. Every July she comes down for about 3 weeks and literally goes to the beach every day to sit in the sun and people watch. This weekend the kids had a great time hanging out with her and the rest of the family. On Saturday we hung out at my parents and went in the jacuzzi for bath time. Sunday morning we got up and went to the place where my grandma serves breakfast once a month. Kevin, Sara and Addison joined us and we had a blast eating, drinking mimosas and catching up. Later that evening we went to my Aunt Carol's house for dinner with everyone again. It was a great day with lots of family and lots of laughter.

Happy 4th of July!!!!

Jeana made the most delicious 4th of July cake, unfortunately she didn't get to enjoy it.

Trevor holding on to daddy for dear life during the firework show.

TT holding on to Nanny for dear life during the firework show.

Don and Trevor watching fireworks once he warmed up to them and the family in the truck before the show.

Trevor doing sparklers for the first time.

TT with her sparkler.

Azure joined us tonight and brought her signature chocolate chip cookies. Don is still angry at me for sending them home with my mom tonight but I was trying to get rid of the junk!!!

Papa and TT. TT went around the whole patio and took a picture with everyone (surprise surprise)!

Trying to get 6 kids to look at a camera while eating Popsicles is absolutely impossible!!! It didn't help that we had them facing the sun!





We had a great 4th of July today. The morning started off with me going to the gym and Don going surfing. I took the kids to a friend's house who had a pancake breakfast while Don was surfing. Kelly went with me and both kids had a blast. After naps we had some friends and family come over for a BBQ. Don made the best "beer battered burgers" from scratch that everyone completely loved. The Allen's brought some sparklers for the kids to play with which was a hit. After our friends left we took the kids to see a firework show at Vet Stadium. They were super excited but once we got there were a little scared. Both kids warmed up to them and ended up loving it. I think it is something they will remember for next year. The kids went to bed late so lets just hope and pray that they will sleep in late too!!!!