Ballet Lessons

Since taking a long break from gymnastics (over a year) we decided to let the girls try a few weeks of ballet. Lauren has been persistant that she wanted to do ballet and karate so thought we'd give ballet a try first since I was not sure what they would think of it. I tried to talk Lauren into tap since I took tap for 8 years and got them cheap tap shoes at a consignment sale last year but she was set on ballet (so I will just show them myself at home :) Here are a few pictures from their first day today.

Lauren, Shannon, and a friend Martine from preschool

Thank you Mrs. D for letting me borrow your camera!

And our next base is...

...Travis AFB!

Wow has it been a long year waiting to find out our next step. Over a year ago Daniel was interviewing with Providence. One time they flew him up and a few others we were in town for. Each time I was so hopeful it would come to be as we prayed for God's will for our family. Moving back to Oregon has been a desire of both Daniel and myself since we started our military journey back in 2004. I was certain we would do 4 years and be DONE....but here we are in 2009 and content in our next base. Even though we hope to move back to Oregon and can't wait until that day, we are accepting our next assignment (2-4 years) with gratitude. God is so good. We are thankful that Daniel has a stable job and we are still close enough to visit friends and family in both states.

We trust God's perfect timing and that He can see the big pictures for our lives and decided we rather wait for that day then make it happen on our own. I have no problem trusting and waiting for that day. Until then we are embracing our next adventure and counting our blessings.

Another birthday and a visit from my mom

It's amazing what the difference a year can make. This year as I celebrated my 32nd birthday I could not help but smile and thank God for such a good year.

Now that my thyroid is in check and am getting my energy back I feel so much better! Somewhere while raising babies and getting my masters degree I wore myself out. Even though my lab results did not show a large imbalance for my thyroid I knew the numbers were still high and did my research...and after 6 months of working with a naturopathic doctor who looks at your whole overall health and adresses the areas out of balance, I feel like my old self again.

The week proved to be extremely rainy so all of our activities turned indoors. My mom and I were able to enjoy a quiet (kid free) trip to the mall, Daniel and I enjoyed a movie, and the girls had many fun indoor outings to get their wiggles out :)

The girls, my mom, and Daniel at "old mcdonalds", as Shannon call it, climbing in the play area while I fought a headache and took a few pictures.

beautiful flowers from the girls (grandma :)

Lauren enjoying cake

breakfast at our favorite spot in town

and de-wiggling at pump it up.

Thank you mom for the great company~we love you!

South Lake Tahoe Trip

This past weekend we enjoyed a wonderful weekend with the Belleza Jr. and Sr. , Doney, and Pavano families. Christian's parents have been more than generous with us as we have spent a few weekends with them at their house near Santa Cruz and now inviting all the "friends and families" along for a weekend escape. Here are a few picture from our weekend.

Lake Tahoe

nature hike adventure

first night's dinner hosted by Mark and Tracy

7 of the 8 kids at dinner

relaxing after playing in the snow

Superbowl!

tropical theme night

Shannon sledding on her tummy

Daniel and Lauren posing before a ride down in the tube

Michelle, Darcy and I after a morning of sledding and tired kids :)

The girls with Kaitie


The girls and Caleb

Lauren trying out Tyler's sled

The guys before snowboarding

Building with Daddy

Last week Lauren informed me she wanted to build a dog and cat house "using eleven pieces of wood, nails, a hammer, and some pink paint" :) Instead of helping her with a quick fix answer and creation, I had her tell Daniel what she wanted to make. Knowing my husband I should have been prepared for the time and detail he would then put into the project.

So after long hours spent in the garage helping Daniel they now have their wooden pink dog and cat house. Priceless.

A busy day at the Bay

Since Monday was a holiday for both Lauren and Daniel, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and there were sunny and clear skies, we decided to spend the day in San Francisco.

Here is a view of the city from across the Golden Gate Bridge

I think it was something like $6 to cross the bridge (plus we had to pay $4 each way to take another bridge into and out of town)...gotta love toll bridges.

We spent the afternoon enjoying some crab and exploring Pier 39

Alcatraz



..a little carouseling..



...then we rode the never ending cable car which took over an hour. At one point we had to hop off to find a bathroom for Lauren then hop back on... at least Daniel picked up on the fact that we could just avoid the long line to get back on a train by going up a few blocks and hoping on with the locals :)


The last time we were in town was 2006 with Scott and Adam. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from that trip.

San Francisco Zoo

June 2006

Ghirardelli Square

..and ice cream sundays with Uncle Adam and Grandpa Scott