The Del Mar Fair oh I mean San Diego County Fair

So Marcia and I took the kiddos to the Fair! Why did they change the name of the fair anyway? I have to admit I was a little worried taking the kids to the fair without Doug. I can do Disneyland with them by myself but the fair I wasn't so sure. The kids were great! We had a blast! I guess we will be doing it again next year but I will have to drag Doug with me since Marcia won't be able to go with me :(that will be the topic of another blog) Me and Marcia got to hang out while we watched our children have lots of fun on the rides. Over at the big kid area Derek was pretty bummed that he couldn't ride all the rides. (next year buddy) We had a great day....cheese fries, Hot Dogs on a Stick, snow cones, cotton candy how can you go wrong?

There's Gage
Karlie

Derek

Ryan
and Tara


This one is just for you Grandpa!

"Piggy, piggy,piggy"

Monster Trucks!!!

Derek really was affected by being so up close to the Monster Truck!

He turned into Monster Derek!!

We really had a great day with great friends!!

Time with Great Grandma

Today we spent the day with my Grandma. First we took her to a doctor's appointment then we headed down to the Harbor for lunch. It was such a pretty day. We went to Anthony's which my kids love since it is actually on the water and you can see all the boats, seagulls and even an occasional fish. We had a very nice lunch and the kids were very good and enjoyed their lunch.
Right outside there was this guy...is he real or just a statue? Karlie says he's real, Derek just thinks it's funny!

Ryan wasn't too sure about him. He wouldn't go to close. However when I put my camera away he did start to mock the guy while sticking his tongue out and then ended his little charade by turning his butt at the guy and saying (in one of his funny voices) "booty booty!" He then laughed hysterically as he walked away! Ryan is so funny! I don't know where he comes up with this stuff! I do think he is his biggest fan though because no one laughs at Ryan like he laughs at himself!
Here is Grandma making the kids laugh by saying Cheeeeeeese! I think Ryan gets some of his funny things from Grandma! She always makes us laugh. She has her little Spanish accent and the kids love when she tells me to "Shut Up" like when the bill comes and I grab for it and she takes it out of my hand and I say, "Grandma you don't have to pay I'll get it." She tells me no and I begin to tell her again that I'll get it and she says, "Shut Up!" The kids start giggling! The first time she did that Derek said ooooh that's a bad word. I had to come up with justification as to why Grandma can get away with that so I told him when he is 90 he can tell his grand kids to shut up too! Yes my Grandma is 90! Doesn't she look great! Thank God that we still have her to love and spend time with!

Me and my girl!!

I love my little Karlie sooooo much! Don't get me wrong I love Derek and Ryan just as much but there are some things I can do with Karlie that just aren't the same with the boys. Like shopping, certain movies, pedicures, a Hannah Montana concert you know things like that! I love to have one on one time with each of the kids every once in a while. We call them dates with Mommy. Last Tuesday Karlie and I had our 2nd annual date at Disneyland! We did it last year as a reward for doing so good in school and we had a blast! So Karlie wanted to do it again. This year she wanted to be twins so we decided to make matching shirts and wear the same style capri pants. Karlie wanted my shirt to say Queen and hers to say Princess. I told my friend Adria about it and she found me some rhinestones and 2 jeweled princess crown iron-ons. I got us each a black cammi and tried to do the writing but it was too hard to get it to work right but I did use the iron-on crowns! We did have a mission, Karlie is finally tall enough for California Screaming! Just barely...but tall enough so that was the first thing on our list! CA Screaming goes upside down and that would be Karlie's 1st upside down ride!! We got to Disneyland and headed to CA Adventure 1st to go ride the ride. We did it and Karlie LOVED it!! We rode a couple rides at CA Adventure and walked around a little then we headed to DownTown Disney for lunch and a little shopping! (See what I mean with the boys this wouldn't work!) We went to Karlie's favorite store the capital of all things GIRLY Club Libby Lu!! This is where she HAD to buy her friend Mia's b-day present! So we finished up our shopping and headed over to Disneyland. It was really hot so we did Splash Mountain first then we did the other Mountains and just enjoyed our time together! Karlie is allot like me...we really love Disneyland and enjoy walking around looking at stuff. We had allot of trouble deciding if we wanted a Dole Pineapple Whip (Which is my very favorite!!) or a waffle cone sundae (warm brownie topped with vanilla icecream, caramel, whip cream, rainbow sprinkles and a cherry!) It was a very very tough choice but Karlie finally decided on the Sundae and since it was her day I didn't complain! But now I'm left craving the pineapple whip so we will have to go back soon! We had to go back over to CA Adventure to ride CA Screaming one more time plus I really needed to walk off that Sundae! Then we went back to DT Disney to pick up our purchases! We had a great day! I love my little girlie girl!

Miss Fab-U-Lus!


This is a picture of the screen that shows the pictures taken on California Screaming!
Look at that smile she was lovin it!!!

Happy Father's Day!!!

Happy Father's Day Honey!!

So for Father's Day to celebrate the wonderful husband and Father that I love with all my heart we woke up nice and early to start on his breakfast. (Doug's favorite breakfast is Egg's Benedict. So the day before I did my research to find the right recipe. Then I went and got all the supplies including the breakfast in bed tray!) So we went down stairs and got started on breakfast. The kids helped and I am happy to say that it actually came out good! We loaded up the tray with Eggs Benedict, country potatoes, sausage and orange juice and went to deliver our king his breakfast! He was very surprised and the kids had so much fun!

Then it was time to get ready for our day. We waited for Uncle Eric to arrive and headed to Lake Cuyamaca for some fishing and a picnic!

The kids had a great time fishing with Daddy and Uncle Eric! Then we went on a nice hike around the Lake! It is summer but it looked more like spring up there. While we were hiking we saw so many flowers and a HUGE wild strawberry patch!

This is actually a little tiny flower! But with some special shooting it just pops out at you!!

We had a wonderful day! It was so nice to make a day all about Daddy!

Doug is a wonderful father and husband and we are so lucky to have him!

He is the kind of guy this day was made for!

So thank you to our King for making me your Queen and for my little princess and my 2 princes!

You always keep our kingdom safe, fun and full of love!

We love you...Happy Father's Day!

The Graduating Class!!

On June 12th my little Derek graduated!! It was so cute and although he is only 5 and going to Kindergarten I still got all emotional! He just seems so big! I can't believe he is already going to Kindergarten! His class sang a bunch of songs, then they took turns saying their names and spelling them. Then they were each presented with their diploma certifying the completion of preschool! One of the songs they sang was called, "The Graduating Class" it was sang to the tune of "The Adams Family" but instead they would say "The Graduating Class" and snap their fingers...soooooo darn cute!!!

Here is my little Graduate!

The Graduating Class! The boys anyway!

Does he seem excited?
This kid was jumping off the walls after
the ceremony was over!
He was all pumped up and happy!

A family picture!

Even Uncle was there!

Such a fun weekend & schools out for summer!

So our weekend began after we checked in at the hotel and headed to the pool. At the pool there were some hot little studs showing off their muscles! That would be Ryan, Brandon and Derek! The kids had allot of fun playing and swimming.

Then we headed to a birthday dinner for Derek. Derek was so cute when the whole room sang happy b-day to him!! After that we went back to the hotel and watched the Disneyland fireworks from our 12th floor view! Derek thought that was just for his birthday. He is so cute!

So then Derek got his birthday wish we went to Knott's Berry Farm!

This is Daddy, Derek and Karlie on the side winder! The individual cars actually spin as you go around the track! So fun! This was Derek's favorite ride! While we were in line we told a worker we were celebrating Derek's b-day. They sang him happy b-day over the speaker as we were getting on the ride! Everyone waiting in line joined in! Derek loved it! Notice the clear blue sky!

It was a western weekend so each of the kids got to go on a scavenger hunt and find a cowboy hat and bandanna! Look how cute little cowboy Ryan is!

And here is the rest of the gang! Karlie, Dakota, Ryan, Derek and Brandon! We had such a great day! I am so glad Derek chose to have his b-day party there! It wasn't very crowded and we pretty much walked onto every ride. It was a beautiful sunny California kind of day!

Then it was back home for the last 1/2 week of school! It was a fun few days! It ended kind of sad though. Saying good bye to good friends and teachers is never easy! Karlie had a pretty tough day thinking about one of her best friends (Gage) who is moving at the beginning of August to Texas.

Karlie got an excellent report card and now moves on to 3rd grade next year! The boys also had their last day of school today! Derek has his graduation tomorrow! I can't believe he will be in Kindergarten! It's so sad how they grow up sooooo fast! Here she is with some good friends Maddy and Zoe!

Some of my favorite shots from the workshop

So at the workshop there were some beautiful families that came to model for us. Here are some of my favorite shots. I had soooo many it was hard to narrow it down. When I was there armed with an awesome camera everything just seemed to click. I so enjoyed capturing the intimacy of a mother with her baby, the beauty of family and the love between them and pure emotion in a glance or smile. We are exposed to so much ugliness everyday through the media etc. God didn't put us on this earth to be unhappy he wants us to be blessed! It was an honor to capture and tell a beautiful story through pictures. I believe there is more happiness and beauty around us than we realize we just need to look for it! So here are a few pictures hope you enjoy them.