Shayla turns 9!

  9 YEARS OLD! 

9 years ago at 8:19 am my baby girl came into this world!  From the get go she was transverse (sideways in the womb) and despite multiple attempts to help her turn -from a medical procedure to acupuncture to laying upside down on an iron board while holding ice to one side of my stomach and a speaker playing music to the other - she would not budge and so came into this world sideways via c-section!  The doctor said that means she would be either very stubborn or very laid back and not easily ruffled.  It seems she is both of those!

Just as she came into this world different than most, she already seems to be leading a life on her own terms  - she is determined and smart and a bit too sneaky sometimes! She is kind and passionate and sensitive and strong at the same time.  She has these characteristics that are still being molded and strengthened so that she will be a leader someday, a friend always, and an example to others throughout her life!  I have no doubt of that! Shayla, I am not exactly sure what the world has in store for you, but I have an idea what you have in store for the world – and watch out world because this girl will bring goodness to all those she touches!

 

She made me a mom and that’s the greatest thing I could ever be or ever hope to be and brings me the greatest joy and hope! As I was making her annual birthday slideshow/collage, I just loved seeing most photos had an animal, tree or something outdoorsy in it!  That is my gal and she is a product of nature and her heart is bigger than I often recognize! And I look forward to the many adventures in store we have together with our family as we continue to explore our amazing world together!

HAPPY 9^TH BIRTHDAY TO OUR BLESSED AND BEAUTIFUL SHAYLA!  

We love you to the moon and back!

More pics of her year here!

https://goo.gl/photos/s8EQdDuDsgoTqRU18

Fillmore love!

We live right next to the beautiful start of the Sespe mountain range - a few minutes walk!  When it rains we get some of the Sespe river too! One of the kiddos favorite things to do is walk or catch tadpoles and play by the creek or dry creek bed when no rain!  I can't resist taking photos here as it is especially pretty this time of year - here are photos from a few of our river walks lately!

Dusk my favorite time of day! 

A boy and his dog

The kiddos! 

Exploring with friends!

Rock hopping! 

 Colt loves the flowers too! 

My running buddy! 

The view from walking path!

My favorite photo by the river!

Mammoth Adventures!

 Does anyone read this blog anymore ?  I still love to try to keep my blog up and although I don't post super often, I still like my blog for journalist purposes and sharing photos and adventures...

and oh how we love adventures and love to travel and love to do new things or fun things or new fun  things!

This year we had planned a trip to mammoth with friends and we were excited to finally take the kids on their first real trip to do snow sports!  Jon is a big snowboarder - well he used to be - he used to snowboard almost every weekend in college (in Utah).  When we got married I joined him on his trips and I learned how to snowboard (well am still learning...) . We have not been to the snow together since having kids since Jon was so used to Utah snow resorts he doesn't really like any near by resorts like Mountain High or Big Bear, so it is only Mammoth or Tahoe he will go to in California. So we finally were able to get away on a trip and bring the kids too! We had a wonderful trip and Shayla started on snowboard and Mitchell started on skiis!

And we are off...

If going up north we always stop at Schats bakery for monkey bread and sourdough bread! Yum!

Arriving in Mammoth at the same time as a storm!

The kids weer excited to try on their gear!

Snow angel time!!

Off to the snow adventures!

Taking a gondola ride up the mountain while Jon and Shayla are snowboarding! 

We got to meet female Olympic Snowboarder Kelly Clark!  Very cool!

Jon and Shayla on the mountain! 

She's getting the hang of it!

There she goes!

Shayla and Ella

We stayed in Mammoth with our close friends the Meyers and had a great time!  Here I am with my dear friend Sierra!

Shayla and Mitchell and Ella and Kelsea!

The resort we stayed in - Juniper Springs Lodge! We loved it!  Ski in and Ski out and rentals on property and super comfy!

A fun family vacation!  See you next year!

Mitchell turns 6!

 What - how can my little baby boy be 6 already!  Mitchell turned 6 on Feb 26!  And we had a great week celebrating his birthday! 

He is 48 inches in shoes (haha which I know as he can now ride most of the rides at the amusement parks! yay!).  

6 things we love  about my 6 year old!

1. He is all boy - loves to wrestle, climb trees, play in the dirt, play with transformers, legos, cars, etc!
2. He is a great friend to all - has several best friends (see birthday interview) and truly does love them all equally!
3. He loves to play games - he could play Uno all day long if you let him! 
4.  He loves to sing - he will walk around singing and humming a song that was on the radio or from church or from his school play (Lion King) as the latest favorites!
5. He loves school - he is the math whiz in his class (even with the 1st graders) and loves math and science and reading the most and is starting to read more and more!
6. He is a snugglebug - always giving me hugs and kisses and love! I cannot get enough of our sweet Mitchell!

Waking up to birthday door and presents! 

Opening morning presents! 

Wearing his new spy glove and PJ for PJ day at school on his birthday!

 

After school ice cream with his buddies! 

For his birthday evening we went to Toys R Us with his gift cards where he got Legos and Skylanders and then dinner out - his choice - hot dogs! 

Silly faces! 

Then on Saturday off to Universal Studios to celebrate his birthday some more! The new Transformers ride was so awesome and he was just barely tall enough to get on! Yay! 

And so excited to meet Megatron!

An added bonus - they opened Harry Potter World for guests to preview (supposed to open in April) so we got to explore Harry Potter world and the kids loved it - but I may have loved it more!

Welcome to Hogsmead!

Minions ride! 

Still not too big for a piggy back ride!

Then one more celebration!  His two best buddies have a birthday within a week of each other so we decided to do a party for the kindergarten/1st grade class to celebrate these three best friends!

Mitchell, Aubrey and Todd!

What a fun pool party with all their classmates!

My two luau kiddos enjoying the party!

We are so beyond blessed to have Mitchell in our lives and I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for him!

Here is his annual birthday interview too!

https://youtu.be/8OhsM-j2hQw 

Valentine's Day Selfies

Happy Belated Valentines Day!  I took some selfies of my Valentine Loves this day!