Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Tribute

You wake me up each morning
You get me thru my day
There are no words to express
What I want to say.

Your taste is so unique
Your can the deepest red
Without you I would have to bear
Such pain inside my head.

I thrive on your existence
Without you I'm not whole
Just to have you in my life
I pay a hefty toll.

Some say I'm addicted
And yes, I think they're right
Because I have to have you
Morning, noon and night.

As I end this tribute
I hope it's clear to see
I love you Dr. Pepper
You are the one for me!!

Saturday, October 4, 2008

The Patch


On Friday we went to the pumpkin patch with some friends. It was really fun. The kids loved running around and seeing all the sights. You gotta love free entertainment!!


My future weight lifter.

This picture cracks me up. He loves his 'girlfriend' Hayden.





This is the one ride we payed for.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Sunday Dinners

Every Sunday my mother in law is nice enough to have the whole family over for dinner. I honestly don't know how she cooks for 20+ people every week. I can't even cook for us. The kids love to play together and, sometimes, so do the adults. So this is a little peek into a typical Sunday dinner.

A 'friendly' game of nerts.


Cousins at play

Friday, September 19, 2008

The World According to Gavin

- Gavin came running out to me the other day totally naked. (He was supposed to be getting dressed in his room) He says "Mommy, look at this. I have to show you something." (His tone was very concerned) It's never good when he says that. So I cringed and asked him what the problem was. He said "There's a hole in my bum!" I started laughing. I told him everyone has a hole in their bum, that's where the poop comes out. He replied "There's no way. It's too small. My poop is super big." (Gesturing with his hands) I told him that it was magic and could stretch. He was skeptical. Then i told him to go get dressed. I walked in his room a few minutes later to find him bent over with his head between his legs looking in the mirror at his new found discovery.

- This morning he was sitting on the potty doing his business and said to me "I wish I could be a dog so I could just poop in the grass."

- A while back I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up and he said "I want to be Santa. He has all the toys."

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Long Overdue

So I realize that it has been forever since I have posted. We have been very busy over the past month and I just got behind. Over the past month we have spent a lot of time playing with friends. (My favorite way to pass the time). So here are a bunch of pictures from our many get togethers.

 

 

 

 
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We took a trip to the beach. Gavin loved playing in the waves.

 
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David and I went to Las Vegas for our 5 year anniversary. We had a great time. It's always nice to get away from the world for a few days. My family was nice enough to watch Gavin. While we were walking the strip we stopped in Cesars Palace and stumbled into an underground tour of one of their shows and aquarium. It was free and really cool to see how Vegas makes it all work. We also got a chance to see the Las Vegas temple.

 

 
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After we got home from Vegas we had one day to recover then David and Gavin went camping with his dad and brother in law. They went to Convict Lake, which is up by Mammoth, to go fishing. From what I hear, they had a great time. Gavin caught 2 fish, which he was really proud of. They also had a run in with a bear. It snuck up behind them and got into their packs while they were fishing. They froze. David was so close that if he would have stuck out his hand he could have touched it. After chasing it away, it came back thru their campsite that night. As a mother you never want to hear that your kid and husband were almost attacked by a bear. I would be better off not knowing stories like this.

 
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While David and Gavin were fending off bears I decided to drive out to Arizona to visit my friend. It's rare that I get 3 days alone. I figured an opportunity like that doesn't come along very often, so I should take advantage. I have been wanting to go visit since she moved out there a few years ago. We had a great time, but I have to admit it was a little weird to be without a child or a husband. Like they say - absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Our Camping Extravaganza

WARNING: VERY LONG POST AHEAD! PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK.

We just got back from our annual week long camping trip with my in laws. We go to Dinkey Creek Campground, about an hour and a half north of Fresno, by Shaver Lake. I don't even know where to begin. These camping trips are usually eventful but this one takes the cake. We left on Saturday, (3 hours late) following Dave's parents. I was nervous because we didn't have a campsite reserved for that night and the website was showing no availability. Dave's dad wasn't too concerned, thinking worse case scenario we sleep in the car on the side of the road, in the forest, in the middle of nowhere. I don't know about you but that did not sound like the best idea to me. So the whole way up there I was dreading how the evening would go. Gavin was actually really good in the car, probably better than me. So we get up to the campground around 7pm and Dennis (my father in law) proceeds to sweet talk the park ranger into giving us a site for the night. (We had reservations for the rest of the week on a different site but we decided to drive up a day early, so we needed a temporary site for the night.) I was so relieved, until I found out that they have had bear sitings.

So after a restless first night, we woke up Sunday and met up with 3 of David's sisters and their families, who had driven up two days before. We all went down to the creek to play in the water and then we hiked up to a waterfall. While we were hiking it got real cloudy and we started to hear thunder in the distance. David and I decided to head back and set up our tent and things at our new campsite. His sisters decided to stay a little longer at the creek. Just as we were finishing setting up the tent, the storm hit. Thunder, lightning, and pouring rain. The rain dumped for a couple hours. David frantically dug trenches around our tent, which just so happened to be pitched in a low spot where all the water gathered. We didn't really have any water proof clothing just a jacket for each of us. David was soaked to the bone by the time he was done. Gavin had huge bleeding blisters on his heels from being in wet shoes all day. And for the rest of our six days there, everything smelled like mildew because it never got a chance to dry out. We got these thunderstorms every afternoon. Thankfully our new tent did not leak.
 
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Monday we all went down to Shaver Lake. It was pretty overcast, but we still managed to have a good time. Once again, that afternoon, the thunderstorm rolled in. There wasn't much to do but huddle under the canopy and wait out the storm. Tuesday we went to McKinley Grove to see the redwoods. The kids thought it was really cool to see the huge trees. After the redwoods, we went fishing down at the creek. Gavin loves to fish and he is a natural. He can cast out better than me.
After about 15 minutes it started to rain, and when we got back to camp it started to hail. Another wet night. Wednesday morning we actually had a bit of sun so we decided to try fishing again. As we were walking down to the creek, Dave's mom slipped on a rock and fell on her wrist. After an hour and a half drive to the closest hospital, she found out she didn't just break her wrist but shattered it into many pieces. They told her she would have to see an orthopedic surgeon when we got back. They put a temporary cast on it and put it in a sling. Thanks to many pain pills, she was able to finish out our last 2 days of camping.

Thursday was more fishing and relaxing. Friday we packed up our campsite and headed down to the creek for our last attempt to fish. This was my first time fishing. I think its gross but I think it's fun to cast out and reel it in. David had caught two fish earlier in the week but still wanted more. So I decided to give it a shot with Gavin's little kiddie pole. So with no bait or lure, after about 5 minutes, I hooked a fish! When I realized i caught something I started screaming and threw the pole at Dave to reel it in and then went to freak out. I really think fish are gross so the thought of the fish on the hook flopping around totally freaked me out. David was shocked to learn that I had hooked it by the tail! Everything about that was pure dumb luck. After I calmed myself we got cleaned up and ready to head home. It was a long, challenging drive home. Gavin just wasn't happy and screamed just about the whole way. I was so happy to get home and take a long hot shower and sleep in my own bed (without having to worry about bears attacking me in my sleep.) I realize that this made it sound like we had an awful time, but in spite of all the drama, we had fun. I just kept thinking we could make millions if we filmed our trips. It would be just like those Vacation moviies with Chevy Chase. Look out Griswalds, here come the Rices!

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Tractor Tales


Today David's brother in law, Mike, took all the boy cousins to his work for his son, Michael Dean's birthday. Mike works for the city of Newport Beach, so he has access to all the big machines and equipment. I thought that was such a great idea. All the boys thought it was so cool to sit in the tractors and touch everything. They even got to take turns driving the backhoe. Gavin is really into big machines, so this was like a dream come true for him. Thanks Mike for the once in a lifetime experience and Happy Birthday Michael Dean!


This is Gavin driving the backhoe with Mike.

4th Festivities!

We had a very fun filled 4th of July. It started with my parents taking Gavin to watch the parade our city does every year. He loves to do anything with Grandma and Papa, so this was a real treat. He came home with lots of stories to tell us. From what I hear, he loved it. After the parade we met up with all the in laws for a BBQ and pool party. There was even some karaoke involved. David's family is so big there is always something going on. Around 9pm we all jumped in our cars to caravan up to Newport Beach to set off some fireworks of our own. On the drive up there we saw 5 different cities firework shows. One of them was right over the freeway. It was perfect timing. Gavin got a kick out of watching all the firework from the car. The kids thought it was so cool to do their own fireworks. And thankfully there were no major incidences to speak of. We are very grateful for the day we got to share with family and for this country we have to live in.