4th of July!!!

Did you know the 4th of July is one ofymy most favorite holidays??? IT IS! I love love love it. It stems back to when I was young, it's always been kindof a big deal in my family growing up. So - the tradition continues - and the fact that Scott serves in the Military for our wonderful country only makes this holiday that much more of a "BIG DEAL" in our family!

The night before I sent Scott to the store so that I could make my mom's famous CARAMEL POPCORN. It is tradition that we always had it... of course it should be eaten while at the Oakley Rodeo with the smell of horse manure in your surroundings.... but INSTEAD we ate it in beautiful Souther California, surrounded by palm tree's, while watching an amazing fireworks show. Just a little different from what I am used to, but I can roll with the changes. :)

I love to get my kids all dressed up in the RED WHITE and BLUE!

 They were so excited to wear their new outfits, they woke up at 6:30 am. Wow - awesome.

 We started off the morning with our church at a Stake Breakfast. A few "Proud To Be An American" talks were given, and some beautiful music was played. We filled up on pancakes, eggs, sausage, and OJ. The kids ran around on the grass and played football. It was fun, even though I left feeling 5 lbs heavier than when I got there - and the food filled day was only beginning.

After breakfast we headed out to a parade in La Verne. The parade wasn't anything special, but the cute neighborhood was TO DIE FOR! Everyones houses was all dressed up for the holiday. I loved the patriotism I felt there. I hope wherever our family puts roots down (in the far far far future)... will have some major love for the country.

After the parade we went swimming. You would think my kids were born in a swimming pool - they are total pool rats. I LOVE IT.

 After the pool... yes there is an after. This day was FULLY PACKED.

We headed our for a BBQ... food, never ending food. And an awesome fireworks show.

We had such a fun day! My kids were EXHAUSTED! As soon as the fireworks ended Clara was begging to go home. She was d.o.n.e. Jackson was tired, but would never admit it... that kid can go forever! He had so much fun that on our way home he asked, "can we do that again tomorrow?". I think we had a successful day. Happy 4th!

Kids Pre-4th of July Party

July 3rd my friend and I did a fun 4th of July party for the kids. It was TOTALLY last minute, but turned out great and the kids had a blast!

We did a slip'n'slide.

We decorated the kids bikes....

 And they rode up and down the street in "parade style"!

 We then threw candy on the grass and let them run wild and collect whatever they could grab!

 Mama's and most of the wild ones...

 They decorated graham crackers with frosting and m&m's.... yummy!

We also did a fun game... the kids played squirt gun tag. 2 kids had squirt guns and ran around trying to  "tag" the other kids with the water from the squirt guns. It was so fun - the kids LOVED it!

The Mormon Battalion

While in San Diego with  my sister we visited the Mormon Battalion site. It was very cool. I recommend checking it out. It is open on Sunday's... so it was the perfect Sunday activity for the vacation.

After the "tour"... the kids searched for gold! Jackson loved it. He kept 3 pieces to take home.

 Clara was exhausted. She fell asleep during the tour. Once she woke up we realized that she was sick... the poor thing had a fever for the next 2 days. Good thing this was the last day of our vacation. After the Mormon Battalion we headed home.

 I am kicking myself for not taking more pictures. This was the only picture I took of Jackson and AJ! Its a darn cute one, but seriously... the only one I have!

La Jolla, San Diego

La Jolla is one of our absolute FAVORITE parts of San Diego. It is out of this world beautiful!

My sister was in San Diego for a wedding with her in-laws and Scott happened to have a long weekend off of school. So we packed up and drove down with the kids. I didn't tell my kids that we were meeting their cousins. We pulled up to a random house and Jackson asked, "What are we doing here?" I said, "Oh, I think we know the people staying here." He was so confused when he realized who it was. He just looked at me with an awkward grin and said, "Why didn't you tell me AJ was here?" HA HA. It was funny - not really the reaction I was expecting. But totally funny.

Sunday while all the Neffs went to church. We decided to be rebellious and take a scenic walk along the coast line. We brought the kids scooters and it is super hilly so they were totally out of control.

As we were walking/chasing our kids on their scooters... we noticed a grassy area where people were feeding the squirrels. I had a purse full of pretzels so we pulled them out and Alvin and his friends went crazy for them! It was so fun feeding them. Clara is an animal lover and was absolutely obsessed. She could have stayed there for hours!

 I was hoping the pretzels would work as bribery for a song or two...

 After feeding the animals we hiked down to the water. If we had been a few hours earlier there would have been some great tide pools. Instead we just found a whole lot of CRABS. Clara loved them and kept trying to touch them.

 Jackson was TERRIFIED and stayed as far from them as possible!

 Jackson looks like he is having a blast here - but really he is about to pee his pants. He wanted away from the water and crabs... he is my paranoid child, 100% paranoid.

 I love this picture. It makes me feel like my kids trust me. I love being a mom.

It was such nice afternoon. We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful place an enjoy all the our FATHER IN HEAVEN has created for us.

Thank goodness for business....

I was on cloud nine when my mom called to tell me that my dad had business out here in California and she was going to tag along!

We had almost a whole week with my mom and my dad joined us for the weekend. We did a lot of swimming and lounging... heaven if you ask me. My mom and dad had the kids over for a sleepover at their hotel one night! It was so fun for Scott and I to have a night to ourselves. As soon as my mom was out the door with the kids... so were we - we were on our way to the theaters to catch a movie! The next morning I slept until 10 am. Honestly - I can't remember the last time I have slept that long. It was so nice!

On the weekend - Scott took Jack and my dad to an Angels game. It was Jacksons first baseball game. So my dad took him out to guy a mitt. They come got it all ready - and Jackson has not stopped playing (and asking) to play catch since.

We have an obsession with Handel's. FRESH ice cream within walking distance from out house. It really is not great for my hips. But holy moly - this place is delish. My parents love it too.

 And then it was time for goodbyes. I hate them... but I am getting used to them. And the way our future is looking, California might be the closest I ever live to family so I better get used to dropping people off at the airport, watching them drive away, hugs and tears (mostly tears), and Skype.

Thank you Mom and Dad for taking the time to visit us and working us into your busy life. We love you!

Lizards

We have sooo many lizards in our back yard. There are a couple that live behind our shed, they are kind of like our little pets!

One day there was one on our patio and so we went after it to catch it! After a few tries I was able to snatch it up... with out pulling the tail off. :) Jackson and Clara were so excited, and Scott referred to me as the Lizard Whisperer. Ha ha! It must be all those Lake Powell hunts for lizards with my dad growing up.

It had a weird blue line across its throat.

Clara enjoyed holding it while eating her ice cream cone. Yummy.

 Jackson asked if I would pull the tail off. Ummmm... no - I think the lizard should keep his tail. :)

 And then we set him free to continue being one of our pets... most likely the only pet we will ever own. :)

May & June

Wow... to say things have been busy is an understatement. So -- here I am almost 1 month of no blog posts and I am trying to catch up... I have always told myself that I would never fall behind on my blog. But here I am totally behind. Darn it!

Well, here is my attempt at catching up. I am doing it all in one post... missing a few fun things in between - but here are some "major" events!

Scott and I took a trip out to Catalina! Just the two of us! It was so relaxing. We spent the day on the Island and then stayed at a hotel in Anaheim just to wake up and spend the morning acting like 12 year olds at Disneyland! We had a blast!

We went snorkeling at "Lovers Cove".... oh la la! Ha ha. It was actually very very cool. Tons of fish! But thank goodness for these full body wetsuits, the water was FREEZING!

Jackson finished Kindergarten. His last day was filled with games on the field. A DJ glow in the dark dance party. Tie Die shirts. And a Luau lunch party. WOA! It was such a fun day.

Jackson with the "Hermosa Husky" Mascot.

 His sweet teacher. I am going to miss her so much. She was fabulous! She gave the sweetest talk to all the kids at the end of the day - and of course was in tears through out the whole thing. Most of the parents were crying too! I can't believe he is done with Kindergarten and moving on to First Grade! WHAT?!?!? Please, make this growing stop!

We went to Arizona. We always love spending time with the Randalls. Jackson and Clara love their cousins soooo much! We did a lot of swimming and celebrated Memorial Day with fireworks and ate our hearts out with some delicious BBQ!

I ran my second half marathon. I am so glad I did it - but wish wish wish I would have trained harder for it! It was hard and not very enjoyable. But that is only because I was lazy and didn't train - next year will be better! :)

I had the best cheering section!

Scott is back in school. Boo. BUT he had a day off and so we headed out to the beach! It was a GORGEOUS DAY! This day will always be remembered in my book. It was just our little family and it was so fun.

Scott and Jackson played a lot of baseball - it is Jacksons most favorite sport (for now).

A huge string of seaweed washed up on shore and it was FILLED with baby starfish!

 We had so much fun exploring the sea weed and looking for sea creatures!

 The kids loved playing with Scott in the waves. He seriously is the BEST dad ever.

 Jackson was putting his whole head under the waves as they would crash in.

 And the kids loved playing on the lifeguard stand.

Life is crazy busy. I am loving summer. We have fun things coming up. And hopefully I can stay on top of the blog journal of ours!