This summer has been quite a roller coaster for us this year. Full of lots of wonderful memories with much missed family, additions to our family and losses to our family. I know I am so far behind on posting but honestly I didn't know where to even start. In June we were lucky in having my mom, dad, granddad, brother Adam and his wife and daughter, as well as my brother James and his wife come and visit with us. We don't get to see each other often enough- usually only once a year- so this was a beautiful start to our summer. We did a lot of bay area sight seeing with them with visits to the pier, Muir woods and beach, the aquarium and China Town. It was so good to see them and get caught up on all the bonding that's lost by the miles that separate us.
At the end of June we suffered the loss of my Abuelita Julia- a strong and beautiful woman. I will always remember her stories of when she was younger, her muy delicioso flour tortillas (that I can never seem to duplicate) and making Brenden's baby quilt with her. I will also remember, with a giggle, all the times she called Julia and I cochinas when we'd ask her to translate a bad word from Spanish to English (hee hee). She is the talented one whom I inherited my crafty genes from. We will miss her greatly.
July brought lots of new things. Our little garden quickly grew into an overgrown surplus of yummy veggies. Jacob and Rocky spent a week at Twilight Camp for Jacob's scouts. Jacob had a blast doing the archery! Emily got to spend a couple weeks in AZ with her Auntie Amy and Gramy. I flew out to AZ where Emily, Auntie Amy, her daughter Kaylee and I all donated our hair to Locks Of Love. What a great experience to share with my daughter, sister and niece! While in AZ, I also picked up a new family addition- a puppy!! We all drove back to CA together and Amy (plus kids) visited with us for a little over a week. The kids had so much fun with their cousins. We didn't go to many places because honestly, it was the end of summer, and relaxing felt way too good! What an incredible month!
In August, Trevor turned 10. Since he loves pirates, Amy and I took the kids to Muir beach for his birthday. The kids had a lot of fun discovering sea shells and star fish. Later, we headed home and watched Witch Mountain. It was over all to quick and Amy and the kids soon had to head home to AZ before school started for her kids and mine. Brenden started Jr High this year only to remind me that I am getting older and so is he. We also found out some interesting and helpful things about Trevor this August. He has a growth disorder called Russell-Silver Syndrome and is also not believed to be Autistic. Growth hormone shots are decided and we started them in September. We've got our fingers crossed that this really helps him and we see some positive changes!
Luke and Mills - One of the Flaming Lotus Girls - and their sculpture
Luke- learning about the power source of the Nautilus- the beryllium sphere
seeing the kids playing with their much missed cousins.
my ridiculously awesome man making me a little garden for Mother's Day.
the hot air balloons coming out and making the little man smile.
Brenden having an overload of fun (is that even possible??) at Science Camp.
Luke was making faces and weird animal noises at the goats. They seemed so unimpressed. Snobby goats.
These crazy kids have no fear!
The only one who had guts enough to ride this crazy ride with me was 
Rides over!
Rocky had them begging for him to stop the spinning! We 
And after a long night and tons of fun, we headed back to the car...passing the livestock once again. There was a cow giving birth and we all got to watch this amazing event. We were all in awe. No pictures though. We thought we'd let the new momma and baby girl have their time...flash-free.
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