Farwell Aunt Judy

About a week ago we all had to say good-bye to my great Aunt Judy! She was an amazing lady who put up a miraculous fight. I choose the word 'miraculous' because she was a lung transplant patient who lived an amazing, extended seven years of her life. She was a fighter, a lover of life and just an overall great person. I have many fond memories of her throughout my childhood that will forever be remembered. And I'm sure the peace we are all left with is especially knowing that her body can now be at rest. We love you Aunt Judy!
P.S. Here's a picture of Zain and some of his cousins whom he absolutely idolizes! They were all sooooo cute together!!

Meet Harley!!

Yesterday we welcomed a new addition into our household ... Harley! He is a 1 1/2 year old yellow lab given to us by my mom. He is honestly the sweetest tempered, most well behaved and very obedient dog I have ever come across; and we are so proud to have him be a part of our family now. The kids just adore him and Zain thinks he is his new best friend...well I guess he is, but Zain literally talks to Harley and he thinks Harley is going to talk back to him!! It's pretty cute! Yesterday we showed Harley off to all the neighborhood friends and then took him to the dog park to meet all the local dogs. He got along so well with the other dogs, people couldn't stop complimenting him! We are very proud of him and look forward to lots of fun family memories together. Thanks mom!!

Park City, UT

Last weekend we were fortunate enough to take a little mini-vacation to Park City, UT! Alright, now some of you may be saying to yourself "fortunate enough" may not be the choice of words you may use, but in all reality it is a gorgeous little ski town. It's almost like something right out a movie...you have the breath taking views blanketed in snow, the boutique ma and pa shops along Main Street and the people are as friendly as your closest neighbors! After the culture shock of several feet of snow over the course of three days, we really did enjoy Park City! Here are a few pictures of our trip...

The Montage is building a new resort in Deer Valley that will soon top anything in the area!

Olivia and Joseph...our adopted kids for the weekend! We stayed with the Montage's Managing Director (and his wife) in Park City and these were their kids. They were so much like Masyn and Zain, it really gave us insight into what to expect in the next 3-4 years! We all had a blast together!!Nick walking along Main Street and the snow falling heavily (cool pic)!Nick and I at a Sundance Film Festival after party! We got to see a GREAT Sundance movie as well (An Education)! Bundled up on Main Street!All in all, we had a great time in Utah and only God knows what the future will bring for us. And many thank-you's to the Jackson Family for allowing us the opportunity to explore such a beautiful place...we can't thank you enough!!

Tooth Fairy Time!

Yeah... at five years old (almost six) Masyn has just lost her first tooth! She came home from school last night and approached me and said, "mom I'm ready." Very confused I asked her, "ready for what?" She said, "for you to pull my tooth out!!" I was caught very off-guard and looked at her in disbelief that she would actually want me to pull it out. I remember when I was kid and how petrified I was if anyone even touched or looked at a loose tooth in my mouth. Any loose teeth in my mouth would dangle by a string for weeks on end before I would even imagine it being pulled out! Well, I guess today it is 'cool' to have your parents pull your teeth out...and even cooler to go to school the next day and show off that missing tooth! So, after a careful inspection of Masyn's tooth last night, dad got the duty of pulling it out. Masyn did awesome and not a single tear was shed! Zain on the other hand cried repeatedly, " I don't want the tooth fairy to take my teeth!!!" Obviously, Masyn's whole tooth experience really scared him! Athough, I have to admit it was pretty hard not to laugh at the whole tooth situation!!!

T-Ball Time!!

Our big 3 year old has finally got to join his first sport...T-Ball!! Every Saturday he has practice and a game. Today was his first day and he loved it. Aside from the chaos of trying to manage 12 three year olds running around, Zain was a complete natural. We look forward to the next few months of T-Ball!

What we will miss about Paso!

We went up to Paso Robles last weekend to see Grammy and had another one of those "best trip ever" weekends. The kids absolutely love the ranch life and it will definitely be missed. Here are a few of our favorite things about Paso:

Swinging on our favorite swing together...and actually getting along on the same swing!

Taking nature hikes throughout the gorgeous acres and acres of land...and collecting all sorts of valuables in our brown bags!

ALPACAS...what more needs to be said! Zain has no fear of these strange yet beautiful looking animals. At least, they both had the joy of naming several of them.

Fresh chicken eggs...and racing to the chicken pen to guess how many eggs would be laid each day. And even better...eating the eggs!

The tree house...their names will forever be imprinted on this little fort!

BUT WE ARE THANKFUL WE STILL HAVE OUR GRAMMY...NOW EVEN CLOSER TO HOME! WE LOVE YOU GRAMMY!!

Memory Lane

To start off the New Year the kids and I decided to take a trip to a new park (well new for them, not me)...TeWinkle Park, or as Masyn likes to call it "Tinkle Winkle Park"! I grew up going to this park as a kid, so I thought it would be fun to take the kids. We packed lunches, bikes, scooters and helmets and spent a fun afternoon down memory lane!Straight out of a magazine, or what?
I'm not sure if Masyn just knows how to have attitude for a picture or if that it is her real attitude shining through? Scary!