April 2008

Hello family! Well, it looks like I almost missed the entire month of April, but I am finally posting something. The boys have been off track for the last month and just went back to school this last Monday. Shane had a great 12th birthday, we kept it pretty small, he invited a friend over and we had birthday cake. Thank you to all of you for your birthday wishes for him.

Kevin is ready to make his First Communion this Saturday, and we are looking forward to seeing most of our "local" family members to celebrate. He is very excited, although he said the sip of wine was "gross" when he went to a practice run last weekend.

We all went to the rodeo in Norco a couple weeks ago. The boys had a great time, although I am convinced those bull riders are crazy. We got to see barrel racers, bronco riders, bull riding and calf roping.

We took the boys to the Superbike races at California Speedway last weekend. These bikes race at around 200 mph, so the boys thought it was great. It was supposed to be unbearably hot, but we ended up with some cloud cover, so it turned out to be a really fun time.

Finally, I got a replacement for my street bike, which we sold last year. I know most of you are not "bikers", but I am really excited with my new ride. I am now the proud owner of a 2006 Triumph Thruxton, and it is really pretty. I have only had it out twice, but it is soo much fun, and I am looking forward to Tim and I being able to get out for some Saturday rides in the near future. Also, I have taken assessment tests to go back to school to get my AA (for now) and I managed to qualify for college level classes, Yay! Tim is working hard, and looking forward to taking the boys out camping in the next couple of months. We cannot wait to see the Nazzaros, Wells, and Laytons in June. We are really looking forward to it. Love you all.

Snow Trip / Bike Riding

Hello family! Somehow, I managed to miss posting anything for the entire the month of February. Oh well, our family has managed to avoid most of the flu. Tim and Kevin had very mild versions, but were only down for a day or so. So maybe it wasn't the flu that everyone else has been suffering through. I am hoping we are done with it and we will all stay healthy. We hope all of you who have been sick are feeling better.



We took the kids to the snow about a month ago. We all had a blast, and best of all, got to leave the snow behind when we decided to head home. We filled the bed of our truck with snow before heading down the mountain, so all the neighborhood kids got to play with it when we got home.

I had a wonderful 40th birthday, thank you for all the birthday wishes. I got to go to lunch with Mom and Dad and Michael, and then had birthday cake at home with my boys. Tim and I went to a really nice dinner, just the two of us, a few days after the fact. I had a wonderful day, and I am trying not to focus too much on the fact that I am now halfway to 80 years old.

Two weeks ago, we took the boys dirt bike riding. The weather was less than perfect, as the wind was blowing a sustained 30-40 MPH, which made a lot of dust. So Tim and I didn't ride our bikes, but the boys got in a couple of hours on their bikes.


I hope you all have a blessed Easter. We hope to see our CA family at Chris' house on Easter afternoon. We are also preparing Kevin to make his First Communion on Saturday, May 3. He is pretty excited about it. He made his First Confession a couple of weeks ago. He was kind of nervous beforehand, but was so happy after he went.





Happy Birthday, Dyanamaria! We will talk to you all soon.

Ready to Get Lost?

Hello family! I still haven't downloaded any new pics yet, but I will do it sometime soon. Just wanted to check and make sure all my sibs who are "Lost" fans are ready to watch tonite. Last night, they re-aired the season finale from last season, with little tidbits of info scrolled across the bottom of the screen. Pretty interesting. Michael, did you see all the Star Wars references? I will want to hear what you all think after you see it. Talk to you soon.

Happy 2008!

Happy New Year 2008, all! I do not have any new pictures to post, but wanted to add an update. Our boys are back in school (Yay!), although they do have a holiday this coming week on Monday. We all had a wonderful Christmas. We visited the Kilbournes in Costa Mesa, and finished the day at Mom and Dad's. It was great to see everyone from both families, and we really missed all the out of state siblings and families.

On one of my first postings on this blog, I told you about Kelso, our new doggy. Well, we had to turn her back into our local (no-kill) shelter. I tried to walk her to the kids' school to get the boys, and she completely freaked out at the sight of another dog. She was barking madly and trying to attack the other dog. Needless to say, it was not a good experience (which all the students coming out of school and their parents witnessed). So, we turned her back in, and told them she doesn't seem to tolerate other dogs, although she got along fine with Tigger in our yard. We miss her, but the liability issue was just too great with her. So, we are now back to being a one dog family, with our boxer Tigger, whose behavior has gone back to being exemplary now that she is the only puppy again.

Tim will be flying to Eagan, MN, on Jan 30 and staying till Super Bowl Sunday. I don't know how he will do in the cold weather there, but he only needs to last for four-five days. He hates the cold, so I am sure it will be a struggle for him, but hey, whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? We are really looking forward to seeing the Wells family when they arrive next month. The boys are really excited to see their cousins again, especially their buddy Donny. Everybody make sure to send Grandpa Clyde a birthday card, as it is his 95th (I think) birthday on Saturday, January 27, 2008. He would really love to get birthday wishes from all of us, particularly the grandkids he hasn't seen for awhile. Talk to all you soon.

Merry Christmas, family! To my siblings with kids, if you have a chance today, let the little ones go online and check out www.noradsanta.org. Norad tracks Santa and his sleigh as they make their way around the world today and tonite. My boys like to check it throughout the day, and especially before they go to bed tonite. We love you all very much and wish you a peaceful and happy Christmas Day and New Years. So to all the Laytons, Kilbournes, Nazzaros, Wellses, Ennisses, Turners, Leiffsons, our family and friends, please have a very joyful Christmas, and a safe and Happy New Year 2008!

Palm Desert

We took the boys out to the Palm Desert condo last weekend. Mom & Dad have had a lot of work done, and it looks terrific! The tile is beautiful, and the new BBQ is great! We made sure to

break it in for them.

On Saturday, the whole family went target shooting out in Berdoo Canyon, which is not too far from the condo. Here are our non-PC pictures of our kids with guns. and us teaching them about gun safety.

Look how thrilled Shane looks!

We all had fun shooting, and then came back to the condo to go swimming. It was fairly cold outside (for us, in the 50-60s) but that didn't stop the boys from enjoying their time in the pool.

I probably have no right to even utter the word "cold", now that half of my family reside in places where it really gets cold. I think they are forecasting 70 degrees, and partly cloudy for Christmas Day. We are so spoiled, weather wise. We will be missing all of you who are in other states this year, and wishing all a peaceful, wonderful Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year. To my siblings here in So Cal, we hope to see you all at Mom & Dads on Christmas Day. We may not be there till desssert, but we hope to we get see everybody.

Camping trip pictures - June 2007

We never really showed any camping pics to anybody (except maybe Mom), so we thought we would post some other shots from our camping trip to Monache Meadows back in June 2007. We camped in an area so remote that the last eight miles down the 4WD road to camp took several hours, and the road ended just past our campsite. This area is only open for two-three months every year in the summer, because the rest of the year, it is under snow and the road is closed. It is surrounded on three sides by the Golden Trout Wilderness and South Sierra Wilderness. The river we camped next to is the South Fork of the Kern River, and the boys spent most of their days wading and playing in the river. They fished, hiked, had their dirt bikes, but didn't ride much (the trails were a little rough). We had deer come through our campsite. Tim's Dad, Jim came along with us, and had a great time. He taught the boys how to fish, and although we didn't catch too much, we did manage to have some freshly caught trout on two different days. Tigger got to chase deer and cattle, and she slept for a few days solid when we got home. The boys did also, so parents, take note, to exhaust the kids, a camping trip is a great idea. We were exhausted, too, but in a good way. We plan to do it again next summer. Our boys went all week with no electricity, games, TV, and they never asked about them once. Everybody is welcome, keep it in mind.!

View from our campsite

Fresh trout for snack! It was really good!

Border of South Sierra Wilderness, Tim had a great time on the trails! (Outside the wilderness, of course, except for this pic.)

Grandpa Jim, what a trooper!

If you can zoom in, the black shape in between the trees directly ahead is a deer.