Santa time!

Had to chat with Santa before Christmas. Stopped by for some last minute plotting on Friday, the 23rd. Kaeden and Ella clearly see the benefits of this encounter, while Gavin is simply not so sure.

School!

School has begun. I can hardly believe that Kaeden is in 3rd grade and my Bells is in Pre-K this year. They are getting big too fast. Gavin still keeps us very busy so the schedule is tight. He's walking and trying to run everywhere!

Baby "B"

Life is good! I'm an auntie again. Baby Bentley was born on June 19th weighing in at 10lbs 1oz just like his mom, my sis, Ashley :)

Finally!!

Holy cow, we finally got a new computer!! I can actually upload photos and everything. It's nice to be able to do something so simple, like update my blog. It's only been 2 yrs! :) Anyway, since last time, we had another baby, Gavin. He was born on May 20th, 2010 and weighed in at 7lbs 4oz. He's our precious little guy that made the family complete. Much to Ella's dismay, she ended up with yet another brother. She's in love with him despite herself. Kaeden is the big man on campus these days, oldest sibling and a big 3rd grader! We just bought our first home in Arroyo Grande a few months ago. We are feeling extremely blessed.

Kauai

Kauai. Hmmm. I can't seem to get any photos to upload. The browse button doesn't show up at all. Any ideas?

Kaeden's sixth birthday party

Kaeden had a Star Wars birthday party for his sixth birthday. He had lots of friends and family at his party that made it so special. It was a beautiful afternoon and a fun party!

Riding Lessons

Kaeden has been taking riding lessons for a couple of months now and is learning to be more comfortable in the saddle. He rides at a stables near our house and he's learning on this pony, Cowboy. Cowboy bucked him off once, but he got right back on and tried again. He's learning to pick the feet, groom, and how to "kick and cluck." He got his first pair of riding boots last week. He is getting to be so grown up.

My babies on EASTER!!! I can't help myself. My favorite thing to do is to find coordinating outfits for them. Not always easy to do, but I love the challenge. Aren't they sweet?

It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed our morning with just our family and then Rick's fam came over for lunch and a little horseback riding. We all really enjoyed the sun and when that went down, we had a fire in our outdoor firepit. We laughed and told stories around our little circle. It was so fun.

t-ball

Kaeden loves his t-ball team, the Templeton Eagles! It's so cute. They are the sweetest little kids out there on the field. :)

Our family posing for a flyer to send out to all of Rick's new clients. We thought it would be nice to tell them a little bit about us. If Ella would have smiled, it would have been perfect. Oh well, it's nearly impossible to achieve a family picture where everyone is looking and smiling at the camera :).
Rick's business has been blessed. We have made a very smooth transition back to San Luis and the horse community. We are so grateful.

We've certainly been busy since Christmas vacation ended. Kaeden and I went to see Annie, the musical, at the Cal Poly performing arts center in January (first picture). We also made a trip up to visit our family in Humboldt County. While we were there, we went to the zoo and the kids loved the petting farm the most. We are really enjoying our family and friends. Kaeden is still loving school and Ella is very much our little girl with her new loves of Tinkerbell, princesses, and all little critters.

Ella's 2nd Birthday

This post is all about Ella Bella!! She just turned two on November 28th and she had a butterfly princess party. She had so much fun, and so did our dogs, Chloe and Cricket. (We had an unfortunate and sad incident with Zoey and she is with God now. Chloe is her sister and she is just as full of it as Zoey was) Ella had lots of friends and family at her party and she didn't mind being in the spotlight at all. She is my little princess. She got baby dolls, a pucci puppy and lots of cute outfits and jammies. She loves being a little mommy. Ahhhh.

My Babies

My babies are getting so big!!! Kaeden is well into his first year of big school, Kindergarten. He loves it and he even has homework!

Ella is becoming a beautiful young lady and she loves hats and headbands. I just love watching them grow. They are a joy, and a headache at times, and I feel very blessed to be their mom.

New Pets!!

We have 2 NEW PETS!! We just got a brand new border collie/mcnab puppy and we named her Zoey. She is a joy, and a handful. She is very tolerant of the kids, as you can see:)

We also just recieved a new pony. Kaeden named her Addie. She is a beautiful, calm, sweet pony that we can hardly believe is ours. Kaeden has been riding her daily and she seems to really like it here. We are going to get her a friend soon, probably a goat:) We are really taking advantage of our 10 acres.

We are also experiencing the tarantula migration through our area. They are pretty ugly, but they are not aggressive and they just make their way by and don't bother anyone or anything.

Getting Big!!

We are finally getting settled at our new house in Templeton, just like the rat from Charlotte's Web :) Kaeden is loving Kindergarten and Ella has a big girl pony tail now. We are really enjoying being back on the central coast. We are ready for some Fall weather though. It's too hot this year. Maybe we'll have an extra cold Winter. I can only hope.

Ella just finished her first session of Gymnastics and now it's Kaeden's turn. He starts next Tuesday in his tumbling class. They are keeping me very busy.

Rick is also busy these days rebuilding his horseshoeing client list. He picked up Cal Poly State University recently and we are very excited as it is a potentially large account. They have a lot of horses on campus. We are so blessed and we feel so grateful for the way that things are just falling into place.

Moving

We are getting ready to move back to San Luis Obispo. I can hardly wait to put my home back together again. Kaeden will be starting Kindergarten and Ella will have some mommy time everyday.
Our summer has been great. We have done lots of fun things like visiting the Jelly Belly factory and visiting nana anad papa's new pool in Placerville. We've also made trips to Humboldt County, San Luis Obispo, and Bishop. We've been busy visiting skate parks, fairs, and playgrounds too. It's been fun, but we are glad to be moving on.

summer camp

Well, summer is in full swing and Kaeden has started his camp sunshine parks and rec. camp. He loves it. The first week was wild west themed and they made adorable wanted posters and s'mores for their cooking day. This week is outdoor adventure week, complete with a nature hike, trail mix making and a gold nugget hunt. Fridays are swim days so the campers get to stay until one instead of 12. It's been a great thing for Kaeden to interact with some kids in a structured atmosphere.

Ella is enjoying some one on one time with mom while Kaeden is at camp. I took her shoe shopping last week and she was totally in her element. LOL. She's my little mini me. We have been spending a lot more time as a family this summer and I think we've all enjoyed it.

We took a drive to Bodega Bay on Saturday the 21st and had a blast flying Kaeden's new dragon kite. Ella loved the freezing water and didn't want to get out even though her teeth were chattering. I miss the beach so much. I hope we'll be home in San Luis Obispo before all of summer is gone. God willing.

I can't believe how quickly summer is approaching. Swim lessons have already started for Kaeden at Cavanaugh pool where he is well on his way to advancing to the next level. I'm so proud of his willingness to try everything the teacher says.

Ella is very much our little princess and enjoys watching her big brother in EVERYTHING that he does. She is ready to start gymnastics with mom, so that will be her big activity for the summer.