August 2011

August just started... or so it seemed.   It flew by way too fast!  Here are some photos from August of this year to sum it up shortly.

It was my birthday!!  Woohoo!!  I had a very nice day full of kind wishes and happiness!

We have gotten to spend time as sisters reunited... we love shoes!

The funny thing is that we took my brother to SLO for a day of fun and we (my sisters and I that is) ended up at Ross there trying on shoes while the boys went off and did manly bonding things :)

Me showing off my dirty arms and face from good ol' fashion hard work!

I have done lots of out door things and look tan... for a person who stays inside 90% of the day.  ;)  I pulled super big weeds from our yard!!!  So proud of myself for doing that!!!  I also had my family over to help move our pool from under the tree to out in the sunshine so that we could have it be a little warmer!!

We love our pool and the ability to swim whenever we want to.

I think the biggest thing that happened in the month of August is adopting the newest member of our family.  Her name is Olivia and she is nothing but love!

~Miss Olivia~

They think that she is part Vizla and part pitbull.  We just love her to death and are so happy to have her be a member of our family!  Belle and Indie are adjusting to having a new member of the family nicely and they think they themselves are big dogs anyways... so they are doing well!

As for Jon and I we are working hard at our jobs and living life to the fullest!!

August zoomed right past us and hopefully I will be able to keep up with September!

Love and hope all is well!

Pucker-up Lemon Sugar Cookies

My cousin has a blog that she just started.   She also happens to have great culinary skills (lucky for her husband!)  She has a recipe of the week and I made it tonight.  I just have to say that it was amazing!  You should try making them!  They are so simple and the results are over the top!  Here is her blog and the link to the recipe: YummY to myTummY cookies!

Enjoy!

July 4th 2011

I know this is like a week late, but it is ok with me.  My sister had a brilliant idea to have a 4th of July BBQ at our place this year!  We mainly agreed because of two reasons: we had gone to the beach the day before and noticed that it was packed with people (can't blame them, it was a gorgeous day!) and the second reason is because of this:

We got our own pool!!!  I am so excited about this!  I can swim whenever I want to now!  This has been my childhood dream since.... well forever.  I love to swim and will enjoy our pool so much!

We had a lovely time with family here.

And we ate super good food!

We had a fantastic day!  Thanks for the idea Leann!

We love you!!!

We were also able to attend a breakfast that the Stake puts on every year.  It was nice to see so many people there and to honor those who have served and are serving our country.  We love being Americans!

   

~Dance to Your Hearts Content~

I went a a photo shoot yesterday.  I wasn't the one in the photos or the photographer.  Our good friend Jeremy Wirth (click to view his facebook page) took the photos and my sister was the beautiful model!  Here are some sample photos of the fun time we had!

You have to sign in to facebook to see them since I don't have credit to them.

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 4

I really had a lot of fun!  He is a great photographer and she is a great model!

You should ask him to take pictures of you!

Catching up

Here are some things we have been up to of late

There seems to be some sort of dog attractions to our house because I have saved 5 different dogs that have come and hung out around the front yard.  This most recent pair was a daddy/daughter pair.  They were the sweetest pitbulls!  I know that the breed has a bad reputation, but these two were just adorable.

We have been relaxing at the beach!

Taking in the sun that we so dearly love!

My dad celebrated his 52nd birthday!  We got him a 1,000 piece puzzle from Spain!

We have been able to enjoy going to the temple!

This is a hotel in Avila that we wish we could stay at!

We love to walk or bike this trail!  It has some pretty views as you can tell from some of the following pics

This tree on the trail was growing sideways!

This tree was growing through the rocks!

This is just  one little stream that was on the trail.

Oh and this tree had a skirt to make it look pretty!

We are also working a lot and making the best of life as it is!  We hope to do so much more now that it is officially summer time!

A lovely thought came to mind today...

I saw it on my sister-in-law's blog and it says, "We might not have it all together, but together we have it all."  Today it has new meaning to me and it made me feel better about the situation I find myself in.  So I say thank you Kathy for having that posted because today it was my inspirational thought that kept me going through the day.

Prayer

I know that the prayers of many can help people through tough times.  If you would keep this family in your hearts and prayers to help lift their burdens and make them light, that would mean everything to them.

I think this picture speaks for itself

I don't even know this family personally, but if I was in this same experience, I would want the support, love and prayers of any who would be willing to do so.  I was touched by this family's ability to gather together and hold tight to their faith as they go through this.  May we all strive to live our lives so that we will live with no regrets and be a happy people.

Loves.

Happy Easter!

This is what comes to my mind when I celebrate Easter.  Click here to find out the true meaning of Easter.  It is a beautiful message.  I know that my Savior atoned for my sins and that I can repent and come to him to over come those things which I do wrong.   I am so happy to know that I can live with my husband and family forever because of Jesus' sacrifice and mercy.  It warms my hear to know that I will be able to kneel at his feet and thank him for all that he has done.  For now, my simple prayer of thanks is what I give today so that I might express my feelings to him that gave his life for me.  I hope your Easter was a great one!

It's gettin' hot hot hot!

I am so going to brag right now!!!  It is so nice here!  It was 80 degrees here today!!  I am so loving the warm weather!  I love the sun.  I love the warmness it brings.  I love that I get so warm in my car that I can roll down my windows and feel the breeze.  I love the fact that my dogs get to play outside and get their energy out.

I love love love that warm weather!!

This song totally describes what I want to do: Surfin' Safari (click to hear it!)  I love the Beach Boys and I blame my dad.  I love that my dad taught me all about the songs that he grew up listening to.  I find that I catch myself singing along to them when I hear them and people look at me like, "Aren't you a little young to know that song?"  I know growing up, it was "just what dad did" when listening to music, but I find myself loving some of the same tunes ;)

Thank you dad for establishing that love of the oldies for me!  

Avila Hike

Jon and I have been going on hikes when the weather is good!  On this particular one we walked the Bob Jones' trail up in Avila, CA.  It is a really beautiful place to go hiking and biking!  We have done both and loved both.

One particular part of the trail passes by a really cool tree that grew sideways and an apple orchard that looks really neat.  This particular orchard had a lot of apples that hadn't been picked for some reason or another.  I thought they looked beautiful, with the color they were and the way the branches were bare.  There was such a contrast of color that just made the whole field light up and look so "fallish" for around here.  There are not too many trees that turn color and loose there leaves here, so this was the closest of those colors, in a large amount, that I could get to satisfy my eye's desire.

On this particular visit we walked all the way out to the end of the pier.  We went down the steps to the loading dock for smaller boats and were able to see the ocean water just right under our feet.  The view looking back at the coast from the end of the pier is really a sight to see.  The coast was so green when we went and the water was so blue.  We loved every minute of it.

After our picnic lunch on the pier we walked over to the shopping area where we were able to get ice cream for both us and our dogs!!  This was the first time they had ever had ice cream and they ate every bit of it they could get their mouths on!  The art around the shopping area is very colorful and full of life! (as you can see by some of the photos)

We are aching for that nice weather to return to us so that we can go on more hikes just like this!!  Come on Spring!!