Devine Adventures

Basketball Begins

2012-01-08T16:06:00.001-08:00

The Parks & Rec basketball games started this weekend....first up was Joseph and The Knights...

#13

They won!!!

Next up was Dustin and The Black Mambas...

#14

They didn't win but it was SO close - 21-20 - and a GREAT game!!!

Christmas Day

2012-01-08T14:31:00.000-08:00

Christmas day was with Derek's family...

Catching Up from the Holidays

2012-01-07T15:30:00.001-08:00

Christmas Eve Eve we spent opening gifts to each other

Christmas Eve dinner we spent with Michelyn's family

Lucky # 7

2012-01-07T15:08:00.001-08:00

A couple days before Christmas, we celebrated Ayden's 7th birthday at our local pizza parlor...

Even Mrs. Croy (Ayden's teacher came)...he loves her!!!!

Mongolia

2011-12-12T20:06:00.000-08:00

Hey, we found out that our Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes got shipped to Mongolia

Very cool!!!!!

Karaoke Anyone???

2011-12-11T20:40:00.000-08:00

Christmas with Koinonia

2011-12-11T19:05:00.000-08:00

Celebrating the holidays with Koinonia families

Driving Home

2011-12-11T15:56:00.001-08:00

Heading home after a full weekend of fun at Casa Christmas

A big THANKS to Dad & Randy for tiring out these boys!!!

Christmas at the Casa 2011

2011-12-11T15:28:00.001-08:00

Family crafts before Casa time!

Tiny Tim #1

Tiny Tim #2

The Fort

2011-12-05T12:50:00.000-08:00

The boys continue to improve their fort!

Let the Gluttony Begin!!

2011-11-26T11:12:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving 2011 was spent at Grandma Charlotte's

Always fun to be with loved ones

One Year with Dustin & Ayden

2011-11-26T11:04:00.000-08:00

Nov 22 marked one year of having Dustin and Ayden with us! They have added many fun times and memories and we celebrated with a dinner out at City Slickers!

Upload

2011-11-14T11:05:00.000-08:00

Ok - I finally figured out a new (at least to me) way to upload or link my YouTube videos to my blog...

Here's one I made for Derek earlier in the year for our 5 year wedding anniversary -- let's see if I can get this to work:

http://youtu.be/zFKNJjQF-24

11 in 2011

2011-11-13T19:35:00.000-08:00

To celebrate Joseph's 11th birthday, Derek & I decided to "tough it out" by taking the boys to Chuck E. Cheese's -- it was fun, but oh the bells and whistles!!

Joseph's aunt and uncle (Peter & Araceli) came too and it was wonderful to see them - they are such wonderful people and have given Joseph so much love!

Here are the boys playing their various games!!!

...mmmmm cake time

...and to top off the afternoon, a Monster drink - a special birthday treat -- thank heavens, we were on our way to Joseph's football game where he got to run off all of the caffeine!!!

Who Wants to Go Next?

2011-11-13T19:32:00.001-08:00

Having some family fun!!!

"Shoebox" Time

2011-11-12T19:55:00.000-08:00

Here the boys are, putting together shoeboxes of goodies for Operation Christmas Child -- we're very curious in which country the boxes will end up!

A Boy & His Dog

2011-11-06T20:10:00.001-08:00

Birthday time came early for Joseph!!!

Derek & I have been working on adopting another dog (yes, yes...we're massochists!!!) - but not only did we think it would be cool for Joseph, but we thought it might be good for Monkey too!! (poor guy has been fairly lonely since separated from Shasta)

So here's our new little Aussie girl - she's an Australian shepherd/Queensland Heeler mix and we adopted her from Marley's Mutts, a very cool local rescue

They were calling her Chase, but Joseph has renamed her "Angel" - and a little fiesty cherub she is!!! She's about 4-5 months old, all soft puppy fur and razor sharp puppy teeth!!!

She has a very good temperament so far and has got along very well with Monkey and all the kids...she's very curious, very playful, and a cuddler -- Monkey and she already wrestle up a storm but don't be fooled by her cuteness, she has already been biting on his tail and grabbing his cheeks to give as good as she gets :) Monkey has been very patient and wonderful...even letting her eat most of his food if we don't hold her back....

...and now on to house-training!!!

Pumpkin Time

2011-10-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

Let the carving begin...

The end result!!!

Here's my contribution! The etching takes a lot of time, but so cool in the end :)

Dustin decided to make the creepy hand coming out of the ground...and he even painted a version of it on canvas the next day...really good job, I'll have to get a pic of that!!!

...and here's Joseph's, the ghost and tombstone.....bwahaaaaaaaaaa

the next day, Ayden carved his spooky face pumpkin...

... and some mummy dogs for dinner tonight!!!

Donkey Town 2011

2011-10-30T19:30:00.000-07:00

We decided to go visit Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue for some Saturday fun...

Here's the Donkey Whisperer...aka the "Burro Man"

This is one of the donkey rescue's newcomers - a Kona "Nightingale" - some feral donkeys brought over from Kona/Waikoloa Hawaii -- cool, because I've been there!!!!

Derek's Competition

2011-10-30T19:26:00.000-07:00

Derek better watch out!!!
...I've been proposed to by another guy....the other day, Ayden was giggling and offered me a ring he earned in his class for "Fun Friday" and wanted me to marry him
...it's all just so Freudian!!!

Flag Football

2011-10-02T21:40:00.001-07:00

Joseph had his first scrimmage game on Saturday -- here they are getting "flagged" up

there's even a group of Kindergarten/1st graders -- look how small they are!!!!

there's Joseph, being called by name out on to the field!

Joseph did great and seemed to really like it all!!!
...and he's only going to get better and better!

And here's Arianna (the one in the middle), Dustin and Ayden's sister...she and other girls get to be cheerleaders....although there are also a few girls actually playing football, which I think is pretty cool!

Dustin & Ayden and friends...

Kids Convention 2011

2011-10-02T21:10:00.001-07:00

Our church had a "convention" for young kids and I managed to convince Joseph & Ayden to go...I ended up accompanying the group to help provide some transportation. It was pretty fun but lots of kids and lots of sugar = one tired Michelyn...

Remembering

2011-09-11T11:46:00.001-07:00

Wanted to remember those who passed away 10 years ago...and praying for their families...
and give honor to the first responders who lost their lives trying to save others...

Awesome Movie

2011-09-05T19:55:00.000-07:00

We saw this movie/documentary at the theater today -- we all loved it and of course now the kids want a horse -- but message was great and he seems like one cool dude!!!

Compost Surprise

2011-09-05T19:45:00.001-07:00

This little guy I found hopping around the INSIDE of my compost bin....I think he is a Pacific Chorus Frog -- he's quite small and kinda cute....don't know how he got in the compost bin, maybe one of the holes on the side? So Joseph and I relocated him by some of my plants that have water by them from the drip system.

Mountain Festival 2011

2011-08-23T20:39:00.000-07:00

On the ferris wheel!!!

the Kamikaze!...Dustin is in there somewhere!!!

Boy Creativity

2011-08-22T21:25:00.001-07:00

We heard lots of hammering Saturday morning...and it ended up the boys were making a fort...pretty cool!

Here's Joseph re-painting his second bike...

Big Bear Summer Fun

2011-08-14T20:33:00.001-07:00

While Derek got nursing duty for Shasta recovering from her latest knee surgery, I took the boys for a last summer jaunt up to Big Bear before school starts this coming week...
We had a great time at the cabin and the weather was beautiful...here we are at the Village...

This year's new find was the Swim Beach - a great little place for some fun in an offshoot of the lake...

We also visited a local park...

...and the zoo

Here We Go Again

2011-08-14T20:22:00.001-07:00

Poor Shasta girl started limping on her right leg - we pretty much knew right away that it was likely her other knee's ACL was tor - almost a year to the date of her left knee surgery last year -- so.....another trip to the doggie orthopedic surgeon...and more bandages, cone, staples and recovery!

This last weekend (8/13) Shasta got her staples removed - bandage was taken off a week earlier -- she's doing well! We're on to the "got to reign in her energy" phase as she wants to chase deer and squirrels on her 5-10 min walks -- ay yi yi!!!

All Aboard the Pontoon!!!

2011-07-30T21:13:00.001-07:00

Campfire Fun

2011-07-30T20:47:00.000-07:00

June Lake - The Village at Mammoth

2011-07-30T20:36:00.001-07:00

We made a day-time detour to visit The Village at Mammoth Lakes...for some ice cream...yummmmmmmmm

I loved the beautiful wildflowers around our campsite...

June Lake -- July 25-29

2011-07-30T20:14:00.001-07:00

Look at that VIEW!!!! The wonderful, beautiful June Lake!!!

We found the swimming beach...all the kids (and adults) loved it!

French Camp Campground - July 23-25

2011-07-30T19:25:00.000-07:00

We spent a couple of days at French Camp campground just north of Bishop - it was a beautiful site with "full shade"!!! Lots of rocks and great area for playing in nature...

Packing up and heading out to meet up with the Perez clan at June Lake!!!

Side Trip to Manzanar

2011-07-30T19:13:00.000-07:00

We headed out for our family summer camping trip on Sat. July 23 -- packing and prepping for 5 people was a feat! But finally we hit the road towards our first camping spot just north of Bishop. On the way there, we stopped for a moment at Manzanar - one of the "War Relocation Center"s for Japanese Americans in WWII -- the boys found it interesting and we got to see a short film and some momentos and reproductions -- it's amazing what fear will cause us to do to fellow Americans - I hope this does not happen again....

Summer Visit to CALM

2011-07-30T19:02:00.000-07:00

Ayden, Joseph & Michelyn decided to take a summer excursion to the California Living Museum (CALM)

Casa Romantica July 4th

2011-07-06T22:12:00.001-07:00

San Clemente Family Time

2011-07-06T22:02:00.001-07:00

Summer = San Clemente + Beach

2011-07-06T21:29:00.001-07:00

Our clan decided to spend some time with my folks in beautiful San Clemente for the July4th weekend....first up....hitting the sand and surf!

Nicole, Aubrey & Garrett came too! What fun!

Swimming with the Fishes

2011-06-20T22:51:00.000-07:00

We decided to start a new family hobby...an aquarium!
We found this 55 gallon tank (with the fish!) on Craig's List...

Here are our cichlids! I think people call this breed "oscar fish"

...and this is the "big guy"!! I don't actually know if it's male or female but it's the biggest and definitely rules the tank -- I've taken to calling him "Minion" after the fish sidekick in the movie Mega Mind -- and the orange one in the picture above I call Roxanne, from the same movie, he/she follows Minion around like they're two peas in a pod

My beginning reading on oscar fish shows that they are clever fish, can be very territorial, they have mega personalities and voracious appetites...so far, it all pans out! They like their fish pellets but since they also like insects and bugs, we've taken to throwing a few wandering spiders from the house into the tank and Minion just gulps them up in one fell swoop!

...and here are the others...two golden colored fish (not sure what they are) and a really pretty multicolored fish (maybe another type of cichlid?) who I think Joseph and Ayden call Joey

...not seen, but in the holes of the wood, are two sucker fish - they make appearances every now and then

...so far it's been a lot of fun for all!

Watch Out! There's a Teenager Afoot!

2011-06-04T18:32:00.000-07:00

Dustin's now 13!!!

We had some fun at the park today to celebrate - a little windy and cold, but fun nonetheless!!!

On to the City Series

2011-06-04T18:07:00.000-07:00

Dustin's Little League team won his playoffs and they are now team #2 to go to the City Series -- Yay!

Here is Dustin making a run for his team - he's the blur on the right with the blue shirt!!!

Grandma Charlotte's Birthday

2011-05-29T20:35:00.000-07:00

Sunday we got to celebrate Grandma Charlotte turning 95! What a woman of God she is and what a blessing she is to her entire family! We love you!!!

American Idol Party

2011-05-26T19:29:00.001-07:00

We decided to have a small American Idol party last night! Derek can't believe we actually hosted a party for a TV show...but it was so much fun!!!

Blooms From the New House

2011-05-26T19:16:00.001-07:00

Family Camping or "it's a lot harder to pack for 5 than for 2"

2011-05-18T21:36:00.000-07:00

Here we are at Brown's Millpond Campground in Bishop -- Michelyn finally got to sleep in the tent trailer!!!

Everyone loved the creek that ran through the campground

One of my favorite moments was everyone joining together for dinner on Saturday night

Open House

2011-05-18T21:23:00.001-07:00

Last week I got the "Open House" tour at Joseph & Ayden's school...Derek was in his classroom showing an AWESOME year-in-review video he had made to his students and their families...and I got taken by some very cute little A & J hands and taken to their classrooms to look at wonderful projects they have been working on

Dustin & Joseph playing some B-ball waiting for the adults to finish with Open House

Mother's Day - Pasadena

2011-05-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

For my first official Mother's Day, we headed into Pasadena to meet up with Eric & Leah to go to the Rose Bowl Flea Market

It was nice to be in my old stomping grounds and great to show off the city to the boys - Joseph got a kick out of driving by the condo on Marengo and they loved walking around Colorado Blvd.

Stallion Deer

2011-05-18T20:48:00.000-07:00

The deer have found us in Stallion Springs!!! I highly doubt it's the same herd but it's cool to see them around our new abode - except when they're nibbling on my plants!

...and a new critter which the boys and Derek saw but I didn't get a shot of...a bobcat!

Now That's School Spirit

2011-05-09T21:52:00.000-07:00

The Bat is Back

2011-04-29T12:44:00.000-07:00

Our little bat friend is back! This time he's in the back of the house just by the master bedroom door to the back -- still pretty cute -- and after sunset, he must have flown off to go do some hunting!

This pic was a little weird because it seemed like his eye was open and looking at me!

And here's a bird I didn't see at the Sunnybrook house -- I'm wondering if it's a towhee....I just liked its orangish-colored tushie

And the hummingbirds have arrived at the new house!!! Ayden is my hummingbird-watching buddy...

Spring Comes to Fabius Crt.

2011-04-24T21:45:00.000-07:00

One of the things I'm excited about, having moved, is discovering all the plant life we may already have...here are some of our first blooms...

Easter 2011

2011-04-24T21:25:00.000-07:00

The Easter Bunny prepares for 3 boys, asleep after a very fun Lancaster Jethawks game

Easter morning brought an early sugar high and silliness with the Easter candy...

and then we were off to church to celebrate the true meaning of Easter! How precious that we all got to be there, worshipping God together, as a family.

And for Easter dinner...I MADE A HAM!!! a first for me! and we ALL loved it :)

Easter Egg Time

2011-04-20T21:12:00.001-07:00

Isn't Spring Break Fun!

2011-04-20T21:10:00.001-07:00

My Birthday with My Guys!

2011-04-14T12:50:00.001-07:00

Even though the women's retreat was my present, I came home to wonderful birthday decorations....and I LOVE that they were girly!!!!

My guys love me so much, they were willing to eat with plates and napkins that have butterflies and flowers :)

Woo hoo!!!! ice cream cake! we were ALL excited about this! Thank you, honey, for only using 3 candles :)

Joseph's going to lick every last bit off of his fingers

Retreat "Cape"rs

2011-04-14T12:41:00.001-07:00

Each room got to decorate their own superhero cape and then Saturday night we had a cape fashion show! I volunteered to wear the one our room made...

Of course the babies won! who could compete against their cuteness!!

John Cena & the Indian

2011-04-14T12:33:00.001-07:00

For the retreat, we were asked to bring our own action figure from home. Nicole brought one of Garrett's Transformers and I brought John Cena (or at least most of him). Since I didn't really have any action figures of my own handy, I asked Joseph if I could use one of his wrestling figures. He let me take his prized one...John Cena himself!!! I love that Joseph enjoys his toy so much that the head popped off but even so, he still loves this guy so much it doesn't matter!!! He still plays with it like nothing's missing :) I also brought a little Indian figure courtesy of Ayden so I took some pictures of them around the retreat to let my guys know I was thinking of them.

Retreat Decorations

2011-04-14T12:27:00.000-07:00

Don't we girls just love little treats and surprises!

Super Ducks!!!

Calvary Murrieta Women's Retreat 2011

2011-04-14T12:13:00.001-07:00

For our birthday weekend, Nicole and I treated ourselves to a weekend with GOD!

Nicole's church was having a women's retreat and we thought it would be great fun for me to go too and have girl time and relaxation. It was wonderful!

I got to meet many of Nicole's church friends and it was fun to see how awed they were with the whole "twin-thing" :)

The theme this year was "God's Action Figure" and so the decorations were all about superheroes, etc....and this church goes all out!!!

Meals were yummy and we loved not having to cook, set the table, or clean the dishes!!!

Sh........don't tell Derek about my date!

Even the bathrooms are decorated! Each one is different...here's the Wonder Woman one...

...and Superman!

Unfortunately I didn't get pics of the Star Wars one

Our weekend mascot...."Action Annie"

Hey, Nicole one a raffle prize!!!!...and she 'says' it never happens!

Stellaluna, is that you???

2011-04-07T20:50:00.000-07:00

We came home to this little guy literally "hanging" out in the walkway to our front door. We haven't really seen him move - but I'm not completely familiar with bat habits and so don't know what to expect...

I think he thinks our entryway is a cave, which truth be told I can kind of imagine with all the stucco and apparently insects (which you can see in this pic)

And here's a pic for perspective...he's not a very big guy at all...which is probably why I'm not totally freaked out!!! he's that black/brown blob in the top left of the pic, where the roof meets the wall

Football Skill Building

2011-04-03T14:51:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning (yesterday) we all got up early to cheer on Joseph as he headed out to a football skills 'clinic' -- he's considering trying out later for the city football team ... so here are some pics and video...

A Homemade Birthday

2011-04-02T20:19:00.001-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEREK!!!

Here's our homemade birthday party for Derek...

with homemade macaroni & cheese

and a homemade cake...

and nothing like a homemade. off-key birthday song!!!

Family Visit at New House

2011-03-21T22:01:00.001-07:00

Derek's family came up last weekend for some group birthday celebrations and to check out "the new digs"!!!

It was so wonderful to visit with all of them! We're sorry for the rain, wind and power outage, though!!! But we did get to go on a great hike and dine at Petra, our local Mediterranean food place....yummy!

Awww.....did we wake Dustin up too early to do 'present-time'?????

Derek got a new Rams chair!!

Stallion Springs Snow

2011-02-27T18:16:00.000-08:00

Our new home welcomes us with a winter wonderland - thankfully it waited until our furniture was inside on moving day (2/19)

This was the weekend after we moved - more snow! I'm glad we didn't move that weekend!

Science Project

2011-02-07T08:30:00.000-08:00

For the school's science fair, Joseph is doing a project on "Dancing Raisins" -- it's a simple one but a good start for this kind of school/academic activity!!! He and Derek are going to work on the poster board tonight or tomorrow!

Homework & Technology

2011-01-25T19:00:00.000-08:00

Ok, so Joseph had to write out definitions to his vocabulary words - of course we couldn't find our hard copy of the dictionary so we used the computer/internet -- take a closer look at "tended"...we think there must have been an internet ad right close to the word!

Going Through Binders

2011-01-13T19:35:00.000-08:00

I got to have a moment with Dustin this evening - I was going through his Koinonia binder and he took to helping sort and file the various papers :) He seemed to particularly enjoy looking at his and Ayden's birth certificate copies -- kinda cool for us to do it together :)

Swan Maiden

2011-01-08T19:35:00.001-08:00

Today, the boys and I visited our local library. Dustin checked out "Marley and Me" and is waiting for "The Blind Side" to come in. Joseph chose a WWE book and "Stone Fox". Ayden was the 'winner' walking away with 7 books!

Ayden and I curled up on the couch and read several this afternoon. Apparently, according to him, I am a dead ringer for the Swan Maiden -- I don't really see the resemblance but since she was "so beautiful", I'll take the compliment where I can get it!!! :)

Christmas Tooth

2010-12-31T16:25:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve, Ayden lost one of his bottom front teeth --- amazingly, the Tooth Fairy knew where to find him even though we were away from home. Maybe the Tooth Fairy hitched a ride with Santa on his busy night.

Christmas Day

2010-12-26T16:55:00.001-08:00

Christmas day we headed over to Kip & Mandy's...another fun day with yummy food!!!

Christmas Eve

2010-12-26T16:22:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve day, Nicole and Mark opened their home and hearts for us to come visit and spend the night at their place. Nicole played wonderful hostess with lots of grace and style :)

Joseph and Dustin LOVED the pool table - we now have requests for us to own one :)

Opening Family Presents

2010-12-26T15:26:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve morning we had our small family celebration...nothing too fancy but amazing that God granted us the opportunity to have kids in our home...

Ayden turns 6!!!

2010-12-26T15:16:00.000-08:00

San Clemente Christmas

2010-12-26T11:22:00.000-08:00

Here's Dustin waking up to a rainy December morning in San Clemente...

Presents, presents, and more presents...

...and of course, more food!!

Stocking time!

...and time to unwrap some gifts :) It was quite the whirlwind of activity!!!

Starting off the Christmas festivities

2010-12-26T10:43:00.000-08:00

The weekend before Christmas, we all headed down to Grandma Gould's for a traditional family get-together. The traffic was not so fun but it was worth it to be with family and have those special moments that we all live life for! This year we had Joseph, Dustin and Ayden with us and so that added some new energy! Thank you to everyone who made them feel special and welcome.

After Grandma's, we headed over to Dad & Launa's to spend the night.

The boys loved being 'at the beach house'

Eating, eating and more eating!!!

The Karate Kid

2010-12-18T08:44:00.001-08:00

On Fridays we have been trying to do family "movie night". Joseph has really enjoyed this and it seems like Dustin and Ayden like the idea too. Of course, watching a movie with three boys is not a quiet, peaceful experience but it was still fun in its own way!

Last night's choice was Karate Kid, the original one and Derek and I got to reminisce about that era when it originally came out - and oh how cool the music is and was! Love the 80's hair and makeup!

I have fond memories of this movie, so it was very cool to watch it as a family of 5 (7 if you count the pups) all together in the living room, 20+ years later :)

Little Christmas Moments...

2010-12-13T18:35:00.000-08:00

Look at all those stockings!

Here's Ayden's decorating!

I'm Outnumbered!

2010-12-13T18:27:00.000-08:00

Poor Shasta and I are the only females in the house! Now that we have three boys under our roof life is certainly NOT boring or quiet!
Here's Joseph...

and Dustin...

and Ayden

Thankful - Part 2

2010-11-29T21:03:00.000-08:00

The day after Thanksgiving, we headed over to Kip and Mandy's for some birthday celebration and more family fun.

Thankful - Part 1

2010-11-29T20:40:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Day, Derek, Michelyn and Joseph headed down to San Clemente for a day of feasting with family.

Joseph keeps himself busy on the long car ride

2010 First Snow - 11/21/10

2010-11-21T20:13:00.001-08:00

Time for the annual first snow pictures! Seems like the snow came early this year :)
Another winter wonderland scene!

Joseph Turns 10!!! - Part 3 - Big Bear

2010-11-14T23:30:00.000-08:00

Birthday weekend continued up at Big Bear! Another great visit to the cabin and Joseph's first.
He was stoked to have a visit from my folks waiting for him. He could barely wait until we brought in all of our stuff and then he ripped into the present and proceeded to play with the Legos for the next 2 hours!

Joseph and I (Michelyn) decided to go for a horseback ride - Joseph had never actually ridden a horse before, so he started off a bit nervous but by the end thought it was fabulous :)

Joseph and DeeDee his horse (mine was named Bebe)

Joseph Turns 10!!! - Part 2 - The Party

2010-11-14T22:58:00.000-08:00

Party day finally came!

Joseph's friend, Jonathan, came over and Joseph was so happy to have a good friend from school at the house.

Present time :)

Joseph was so glad that Peter & Araceli could come to the party. They also brought one of their daughters, Paola, and a cousin Pablo. Peter and Ara are wonderful people who Joseph lived with before coming to our home. We have enjoyed beginning to get to know them! They have done wonders for Joseph and are very easy to talk with and spend time with.

Joseph Turns 10!!! - Part 1

2010-11-14T22:51:00.001-08:00

Joseph's 10th birthday was really more of a 4-day event. It was off to a great start with a birthday present in the mail from Nicole, Mark, Aubrey & Garrett.

I'd never seen Magnetix before but they are really cool! Lots of little parts, but that they are magnetic actually helps keep them near each other :)

Joseph had a blast and of course wanted to open it immediately and play with them right away! Thank you to the Perez's!!!!!!

Foxy Sightings

2010-11-07T21:04:00.001-08:00

At first glance, a beautiful large oak tree in the field across the street from us.

Zoom in closer and today we got a treat! 2 beautiful gray foxes who found a perch!
They watched us as we watched them -and they were incredibly wonderful!

Interesting trivia -- the gray fox is monogomous
Wikipedia says the following: "The gray fox's ability to climb trees is shared only with the Asian raccoon dog among canids. Its strong hooked claws allow it to scramble up trees to escape many predators such as the domestic dog or the coyote, or to reach tree-bound or arboreal food sources. ...The gray fox is nocturnal or crepuscular and dens in hollow trees, stumps or appropriated burrows during the day."

Dog Pumpkins

2010-10-25T19:13:00.001-07:00

I decided to experiment with pumpkin carving and found some dog stencils online to use.
Here the pups are checking out the pumpkins - I don't know that we ever carved any since having them...

Joseph's look says everything....slimy!

And here are my masterpieces!!!!!!!

The Mongoose is Alive

2010-10-23T09:03:00.001-07:00

Joseph has done an awesome job this first quarter at school. We got confirmation from his teacher that he got all A's and B's and has perfect attendance and good conduct.....and we know what that means!!!!!!!!...............THE MONGOOSE (his new bike)

This is one excited young man! He came home and hopped on it right away and this morning was up at 7:30 am riding it again as Derek walked Shasta!

We are very proud of his school effort and it's a joy to reward his hard work!

Well Look At That!

2010-10-23T08:56:00.000-07:00

This is why I love gardening - it's never boring!!!!
The other day I walked out and noticed plants growing out of my compost bin! Just amazing!!!! Who knows if they'll make it, but it will be cool to wait and see -- like an experiment :)

This one looks like a green pepper - totally possible since we use them a lot in our cooking

P.S. - I love how Joseph was watching me upload these pictures and he exclaimed, "You took a picture of a trash can?!" (Oh no, my boy - that's no garbage that's black gold!!!)

Sand & Sun - Joseph's Beach Adventure

2010-10-12T20:49:00.001-07:00

Sunday, Joseph and I went with my folks down to the beach - San Clemente was beautiful that day!!! Joseph seemed to really like the beach and got some time to frolic in the waves. He seemed uncertain at first, commenting that he would be "taken" away by the waves -- but after some time, he managed to "conquer his fears" and braved the ocean.

Launa shows Joseph how to build sandcastles using wet sand -- and we even found some sand crabs for him to hold - which he thought the big one felt creepy

Thank you Dad & Launa for showing Joseph such a great time with the family and at the beach!
He had such a wonderful weekend!!!

A Date with Nature - Part 4

2010-10-11T18:27:00.002-07:00

Here is Martin Spino - a wonderful musician who shared sounds of Mexico & California - Joseph was beaming with Hispanic pride!

A Date with Nature - Part 3

2010-10-11T13:48:00.000-07:00

Fun activities to go along with learning about nature! Joseph LOVED jumping from one hay bale to the next.

Siena practices climbing to rock wall

Obstacle course - Go, Joseph, Go!!!

I was proud that Joseph saw another young person with a football and managed to find his way over there and connect so that they tossed the ball back and forth for awhile - he did this all on his own!!!

A Date with Nature - Part 2

2010-10-11T13:33:00.000-07:00

What's nature without animals? Here are some wonderful birds!

A Date with Nature - Part 1

2010-10-10T21:25:00.000-07:00

Sat (10/09) was "A Date with Nature"at the Donna O'Neill Land Conservancy - a natural campground just off the Ortega Hwy in Rancho Viejo. There were many booths with animals, organizations and activities, not to mention food and music :) It was a great time with a lot of fun.

Meeting More Family

2010-10-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

Joseph and I made a trip this last weekend to San Clemente. Poor Derek had to stay behind to work on some school assignments and he was missed!

But the weekend went well and here are some pics of Joseph meeting my folks and Randy, Staci, Siena & Tegan...