Berkeley Lawrence Hall of Science

On February 6, Gavin and I went on his school field trip to the Lawrence Hall of Science. I had never been there before and it was awesome. Gavin was all eyes, ears, hands and running from station to station. His favorite of course was handling the California King Snake!

It is always hard to get either one of my boys away from something they can build and drop balls down.


Gavin thought we stayed too long looking at the floating Earth. Obviously

This was one of the Animal Grossology stations where the kids were suppose to identify different kinds of animals poop. I was not that surprised that Gavin was really good at this one.

My animal lover could not get over how beautiful and soft the dove was.

His moment of true glory was touching the California Kingsnake.

Long Monterey Weekend!

Not a cloud in the sky from Friday-Monday! Possibly the most beautiful weekend ever in Monterey. What a treat for our Denver, Colorado extensions who made it out for the weekend. Scott, Danielle, Dane and Amanda MacDonald traded 15 degree weather for sunshine, sandy beaches, blue skies and mid 60's to mid 70's in Monterey. Good trade off especially for the end of January beginning of February.

It always amazes me how kids don't feel the cold. By the end of this beach trip Mazzy was stripped down to her diaper and the happiest clam of all splashing in the freezing cold Pacific at 4:30 pm. Both Gavin and Colby were whining and crying about being cold and itchy and Mazzy couldn't have been more content!

We got a few cool sunset pictures. We are far from good photographers so some shots looked better in theory.

We tried something new this trip the Surrey Bikes. Super fun not very fast and not the best turning radius...Super fun. We biked out to the end of one of the Piers and actually saw a baby humpback whale breach right off the pier. I was in shock hence no pictures. I couldn't pry myself away from the event to document it with photos, but AWESOME!
Pacific Grove is famous for it's Monarch Butterflies and January is the best time to see them. We walked down the Butterfly Sanctuary with the kids and saw hundreds of Butterflies flying around the tree tops.

Butterfly Extracurricular Activities.

Gavin and Amanda were instant friends.

Daddy/daughter shot!

Still Newly Weds after 4 years!

It is so nice to pick up right where you left off! I love Dani! Till next time sista!

TroYYYYYYYYYY

So let me give a preview to the previous entry by Troy. Saturday night Troy and I were picking out a movie to watch after the kids went to bed. His usual rules have been, "No Harry Potter or any form of Pride and Prejudice, of which we have 3". This night he said, "Why don't we watch the 6 hour version of Pride and Prejudice". Of course I thought he was cracking a Troyism. After I realize he is serious, I jump on the idea! So over Saturday and Sunday nights he watched Pride and Prejudice in its entirety. So when he asked me if I wanted to go shooting I did feel a little obligated.

Monday morning we dropped the kids off at Merrily's house and it was off to the Baypoint Shooting Range in Concord. I was so out of my element, intimidated and nervous. I don't think I have been that nervous since I was an 8 year old in ski school for the first time and a bully in the class told me he was going to flush me down the toilet. That is the first experience that comes to mind anyway. I was totally out numbered men to women ratio and surrounded by people who like, buy, and enjoy shooting weapons on a regular basis. The most disturbing thing to me was that one wrong move here by anyone likely would result in death. So I was not this tough, heat packing, cool chick that Troy illustrates.

The mandatory orientation I received by the people who run the range did make me feel a little better. At least there were distinct rules that had to be obeyed. I was still nervous that I would be the one who fired in the wrong direction. Troy gave me very little instruction as he was new at this activity as well. So the first few rounds fired were very poor to be generous. I wholly missed the target at all. Troy kept looking at me like, "Wasn't that cool and isn't this fun?" . I kept looking at him like you are crazy and I am not happy.

Finally, an older gentlemen next to us probably noticed that I was not hitting anything and asked if I wanted to use something a little easier like a .22 revolver. He said that his wife first hated automatics but enjoyed shooting a revolver. At this point I felt like I would try anything once. So he gave me a few pointers like how to actually line the gun up with the target. I will say shooting is much more enjoyable when you can actually hit something. By the end of our session I felt a little more confident and heaven forbid the occasion occur, I can protect my family.

My children are ignorant of this event and I hope they will remain ignorant until they have families of their own that may need security.

I guess the thing to come away with from these two very different activities is that maybe after 10 years of marriage Troy and I have learned a little about adaptation and comprimise.

Loraleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

This was the first time taking Loralee to the range and she did pretty well. Between her new-found ability to shoot very straight and her cowboy boots, I have learned to harass her a little less than I used to, just to avoid being kicked or worse. She claims the boots are the most comfortable shoes she has ever owned, but personally, I think she wears them to kick me and the boys when we are out of line.




Here is a picture of her target.

The TEXAS Boyers!

We were so blessed to have my brother, Chris and his family drive out from Houston, Texas to celebrate the New Year. Our family has not been all in the same place since 2006 so it was a huge deal. We are so grateful they were able to make the trip with the sketchy weather and 4 kids ranging from 9 years - 3 weeks old.

(Gavin and Colby were educated by Morgan, Sam and Alex about Nintendo DS)
They may be insane but we love and appreciate it. We spent New Years Eve hanging out, going to the park and just letting the kids be together. New Years Day we went to another favorite family destination, The Nut Tree Family Park.





It was perfect for the ages of our kids. It was also freezing but we made it work! My brother has his own photography business in Texas and brought all his high tech equipment for a family photo shoot.




Luckily the weather was again on our side Saturday morning. Sunday we drove out to Suisun to witness Barbie's son, Carter be blessed. We had a big family dinner at my parents afterwards and got ready to go back to the grind. Chris and Stefan were on their maternity/paternity leave so they did not leave until Wednesday and they may be back in Houston tonight which is Friday. They may not get back till Sunday. I am so glad they came and my kids were so sad to see them all leave. I wish they lived closer.

Zoo Lights!

On Monday the 29 the of December we went to the Oakland Zoo. It is a favorite destination especially because of our 'Family Pass' that we feel obligated to use at least once a month. It was a beautiful day and we were so happy to get outside and enjoy it. Troy's sister Katy got to come as well as Barbie and her mini posse, Hailey and Carter.


Troy finally figured out how to zoom in on really small reptiles and amphibians with our digital camera. He took lots of frog pictures.

Colby lives for the trains while Gavin has tapped into his need for speed!

It would have been really fun but mighty cold to go at night time and see the festive Zoo Lights they had for the Holidays. Maybe it will be warmer next year. Maybe we will have a zoo pass again next year?

Christmas Morning!

I am not sure how we did it but we had my parents, Troy's parents, my sister's family, and Katy all in our little apartment Christmas morning to open presents and eat breakfast. Somehow it all worked out and all the kids were happy. Gavin and Colby's list for Santa was awesome this year.

Gavin wanted Spy Gear and Colby wanted a Bug Vacuum.

Colby really enjoyed explaining to people that he needed a bug vacuum because his mom has ants. So now Colby's Pre-School teachers, Gavin's Kindergarten teacher, Colby's Sunday School teachers and both sets of Grandparents believe we have an ant problem. And...sometimes we do!

Mazzy loves rocking chairs and one arrived to her total amazement.
Classic quote of the day was from Gavin when I asked him if Santa brought him everything he wanted. He said, "Yeah except for that ant trap that I needed. Wait, remember last year when I asked for a Bee trap?". I thought he might remember that too. Well I will have to put a special letter into Santa for next year. It is amazing how much more meaningful and magical Christmas is with little kids. It makes me think of Jesus asking us to be like little children and to have that kind of Faith. Their Faith and Innocence is so powerful and I am loving having it in my life. This was a great Christmas!