LADY BUGS

When I was little I was on a soccer team and we were called the Lady Bugs ...thought everyone would like to know that.

My brother Kevin was on a soccer team called the Grasshoppers.

I don't remember if Mikey played soccer.

Anyways........

I bought these at the store and we kept them and loved them for a few days before setting them free in my mom's yard. :) Mom, can you please go outside and look for them? See any? :)

!

Bear and Pooz!

My favorite bums!

Grandma and the boy!

Aunt Gail and Mary Ann!

Jessica, Audrey's mom!

Grandma!

KE!

Scotty... doing something weird!

Grandma... giving us food ...as always!

Grandpa and his cake!

Cheetos!

Uncle Bruce and the "German" Ingrid!

Nana and the girls!

Audrey!

Pooz!

If I missed your picture, sorry... my husband says I have to get off the computer and go to bed!

Best Beach EVER! :)

Santa Cruz!

I talked my grandparents and parents and brothers into coming to Santa Cruz with us too. The Santa Cruz Beach & Boardwalk has turned into a yearly tradition for us. It's the best place ever! :) If I ever had ditched school during my high school years I might have drove out to this beach and hung out for the day.... If...

So here we are at the beach... Scotty LOVED it. I need to find a beach in Europe. It probably won't have an amusement park on the edge of the sand, but I'd be pretty happy with some waves ...real waves. Of course those big waves did take out Scotty once, but he loved it so much he spit out the salt water, dried his face off, and ran back for more declaring that he lost one life and had five more... (as if it was a video game and the waves had just sent him back to start...)

PS. Hey Grandpa, Thanks for helping look after little crazy-wave-running Scotty ...even if your shoes were ruined by the saltwater. :)

A beach is actually pretty scary. You really have to stand next to the kids and stare at them, just watching from a lounge chair isn't good enough. Waves are fast and tricky and can suck you up and swirl you around, just ask my little brother Kevin who was body boarding with Michaela and got sucked under and had to swim up to the surface. Glad you didn't drown Kev, but thanks for taking Michaela into the freezing cold water. (It's hot in California, but the water is as good as melted ice.)

Brr...

California Cool Sunglasses.

I have recently decided that I need pictures of me in this blog so that my kids will remember how super cool I am ... especially with my ....as my husband calls them... my "California Cool Sunglasses".

...and Hey Audrey, in California we eat corndogs, not sand... Silly Utah Pup.

No, she didn't fall. She ate the sand... Twice. :) Gotta love that kid!

Grandma and Grandpa

Here we are! My parents, my Dad's parents, my two brothers, and any involved spouses and children. :)

(This is the good picture of Scott. There are several with him yelling at all the cameras. He was tired of "saying cheese" and no amount of ice cream and candy bribes would change his mind.)

My grandpa is super awesome because he is 80 years old and still swims and wrestles with the kids.

I miss my Grandparents lots. They live in Utah and we didn't get to see them last year, but they flew out to California to see us which saved us the drive there. :) YAY and Thanks!!

My grandparents really are great though. My grandma is so sweet and kind and loving and giving; she is really the perfect grandma. I love her! ...and my grandpa is great too. I love his funny jokes and sarcasm. It makes me smile. I see where my dad gets it from. :)

We had a fun time with them this summer. My little brother Kevin and his wife and their daughter also flew out from Utah. So for the week we just hung out and had a fun and relaxing time.

Grandma's House

Grandma's House!

Last week we spent a few days at Grandma's house! ...the "Grandma with the Orange Trees" :)

Grandma has lived here forever.... see. This wall is where we measure ourselves every year. FYI I haven't grown since 1995. :) If you snuggle up real close to your computer screen you can see how tall Sierra was in 2009, 2010, and 2011. :) You can also see Michaela in 2009 and my little brother Kevin from 1989. The wall has been around a while.

I'd take Grandma's house over Vienna or Rome any day. My Grandpa built it and it's on a huge piece of land surrounded by corn and watermelon fields. She has orange trees, lemon trees, plum trees... :) It's a fun place to explore and she always has a fridge full of cold drinks that we love to help ourselves to. :)

Safety First

I've written before about how much treats from home can mean to someone who is far away from their "home".... but unless you have been brought to tears by the sight of SpaghettiO's or Fruity Pebbles then you won't understand, but I won't go into that schpeel again. :)

My uncle's wife is originally from Germany, so when I come to this side of the ocean it makes me really happy to bring her things that she misses ....and this Eichbaum beer from Mannheim (and ONLY Mannheim) was on the top of her list. No need to say more, after I shoved some German reading material and chocolate into my suitcase I set off to try and fit an entire case of beer in. :)

So, FYI for anyone who needs to transport beer via an airplane. this is how you wrap bottles safely. Wrap in a couple layers of bubble wrap and stick it in a Dora the Explorer Swimmy Diaper... just in case. :)

PS - No bottles were lost during their journey across the world. :)

Fourth of JULY

Yes, Sierra... I realize every country has a Fourth of July, BUT only in America is it a giant party all day long! USA#1!! (Oh, and Happy belated Canada Day on July 1st)

On our Fourth of July we went to the park with Nana and Papa at 6:00am to watch the hot air balloons get set up and take off. We ate our pancakes and then went to watch the parade. After the parade we got shaved ice, but by then... (~10:30am) it was already too hot to be outside. We went home to hide in the air conditioned house. We emerged only to run to the air conditioned car, with which we drove to an air conditioned restaurant. :)

Later that night the girls went with their dad for fireworks fun and Nana, Papa, and I took the two little ones to see the fireworks show at highschool... just like we do every year. :)

Poozie was kinda scared of the loud fire noise which made the hot air balloons get big. I feel somewhat obligated to put this picture in because it is the only one with me in it. Happy might want to print it and stick in on the fridge because he misses me so much. :)

Poozie, pouting... over a chocolate donut I believe.

Getting pancakes from the pancake truck at the park.

Yes, Rufus the cat had to come and see the hot air balloons too.