Yay, I'm back!

Life the past 6 weeks has been an adventure, to say the least!  We've been with family, in a trailer (5th wheel) and housesat for some amazing friends.  We are so sick of eating out and living out of bins.  But, as of this past weekend, we are now officially home!  We've moved into our new- old home!  Life has been extremely simple these past few weeks.

What did I miss-
1.  My camera and computer - I took photos, but didn't have my computer to view the images!
2.  My washer and dryer (thank you so much to Jen, Erin, Bea & Jodi for letting me do wash at your house while we were in the trailer)
3.  My bed!  Don't get me wrong, we were super thankful to my brother for letting us borrow his 5th wheel, but my 6'4" husband and I slept awful in the full size bed.
4. My kitchen - I missed cooking and baking!  I even missed doing dishes (so sick of paper goods)
5. Having a bathroom close by (we had to walk around the house every time we needed to use the bathroom)
6. Having our puppy close - poor girl had to be alone in the backyard because the trailer was just too small for her!
7. A place for my children to do homework - like the kitchen table

What I didn't miss-
1.  Television - it was amazing not having the tv on!  I didn't miss it all!  Felt a little out of the loop on things, but Iphone did the trick when I wanted an update
2.  The cleaning - since Friday I have been cleaning floors and dusting and boy am I exhausted!
3.  Television - wait I said that already!
4.  The kids fighting over the Wii
5.  The television - oops! I guess I really didn't miss that!

We are so thrilled to be in our new home.  We love the neighborhood.  We love the location.  We love how close we are to so many wonderful friends and church and school.  We feel blessed and satisfied.  We can't wait to share our new home with all our friends and loved ones in the years ahead!

Life is moving forward

It's been super crazy 'round here!  I've had so much to share and the time has quickly slipped away!  Not only have we been busy with all the fun that accompanies juggling three kids, but I (Dai) traveled to South Africa in the middle of the sale of our home and the purchase of a short sale!  Needless to say, life has been amazing and hectic, sad and exciting, thrilling and exhausting.  The past few months have been a whirlwind and things are beginning to settle a little, but it'll still be a few weeks before we move into our new home.  I will try and post on my Africa trip, but for now here is the update on our family:

We have moved out of our home of 13 years.  I have cried lots of tears this week moving out.  I think about the day I drove up to that house thirteen years ago, with only a car full of stuff.  I came from the Delta Gamma House and was beginning my life with J.  I had so much to look forward to there!  I think about bringing home each one of my babies to that house.  The quiet 2 am feedings, rocking my babies to sleep in the glider and feeling all their fingers and toes.  As I was cleaning the house I looked over each wall and it brought so many memories to the front of my mind!  I think about all the parties, showers, birthdays that we've celebrated there over the past 13 years.   The lines on the closet wall measuring the heights of my children beginning at six months old.  It's been a wonderful home full of love and joy!  I will treasure the few neighbors that took care of me while J traveled when the boys were little.  I am so thankful to the Lord that he provided such an amazing home for our family.

Through lots of prayer, we took a leap of faith and asked God that if it was His will, we'd find a home with a little more space for our family, closer to school and church and easier for J to get to in his commute from LA.  We prayed that if it's was His will, we'd find a home that wasn't much more than what we could get for our home that we love so much!  We put an offer in on a short sale and were told it could be months before we heard.  We listed our house and it sold in 5 days! What on earth were we to do?  Was this God's will?  The day after we accepted the offer and only 20 days after we made our offer on the new house, we got a call that the bank accepted our short-sale offer!  We couldn't believe it - both houses worked out!  We are excited about the new chapter in our life that we are going to create!  We are excited for the new memories we will make in our new home.  We close escrow tomorrow and our home will officially belong to a sweet lady and her husband.  I am thankful for the new residents and know they will treasure such an amazing house!  A new chapter our lives has begun and we can't wait 'til we are owners (officially) on our new house.

We are thankful for Jeff's brother and his wife - they are taking us in until the 15th. We are equally thankful to my baby bro and sis who are loaning us their 5th wheel trailer so we can live in it for a few weeks while we make our new house our home!  Lots of fun stuff ahead and life for us is moving forward!

Fun in Capitola

we miss our daddy (who is back home)....but we are having a blast in Capitola with our cousins!

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Summer Stuff

JT had hoop camp a few weeks ago and had a great time playing his favorite sport. He got ejected from a game for being too aggressive....Dad was proud but we had to remind him it was just camp and was for FUN!



We celebrated J's birthday with family and a few friends.  We devoured this amazing cake that my friend made...it was delicious and It was tax deductable!  She is heading to Africa in October with her son and she made me this cake as part of her fundraising!  Best money I've ever spent!  Want one?  Click on the link to your right titles "Kru's to Africa" and she can bake one for you too!



Our good friends gave us their ticket to the Angels game (vs. Seattle).  We arrived early to watch the players warm up and hopefully get a ball or two or three!



We had great seats as you can see....



Last Saturday my daughter asked if we could go antiquing...I, of course, was so excited!  We had a great morning together checking out the amazing antique stores right here in our hometown.





Saturday afternoon we went to the beach while JT was off camping with his Aunts.  Curly got his chance to surf for the first time, EVER!  He was so cute and I loved watching him have some special time with his daddy!



I loved hanging back and watching my girl play with her cousins!

The long weekend

It doesn't quite feel like a normal summer this year.  The weather is so much cooler, it almost feels like the end of fall when you wake up and there is a cold fog out in the air and it's misty and wet. Truly,  the only reason I know it is summer is that we've been taking advantage of sleeping in.  My little peeps have been sleeping 'til 9 and roaming around the house in jammies 'til it's absolutely necessary to change.  We don't have any big vacation plans set for the summer, just relaxing and waiting for the sun to finally come out and give us some warm summer days.

The 4th of July seemed a bit different this year for me.  I love this holiday and it's always so much fun for me.  A tradition we love is to watch the fireworks at Jeff's high school alma mater on the 3rd.   What was so disappointing for me this year was how darn cold it was!  I was freezing!  The best part was being surrounded by my friends and family that I love continuing this tradition with, but it was so cold, it's didn't feel like a summer night.

What was also different this year was that we had a baseball tournament for JT.  Although I love watching my boy play ball...I was sad to miss out on some of the other traditions on the 4th.  We missed the OPA parade, we missed the street party at our friend's house and we missed out on some good quality family time on the 4th.  It just felt like a very hectic day, nothing like years past.  I didn't even get a family picture on the 4th (boo hoo).  We did get to enjoy some family time in Simi with my sisters, but we spent a lot of time driving back and forth.  I just went to bed very blue about the weekend!

We were exhausted on Monday, so we slept in and then decided to head over to Peter's for a great hike.  We had a wonderful time and it was just what I needed to get me out  of my funk.


When we came walked up to this "star wars" house, Curly thought it was so cool!  This is him pretending to be Annakin!



JT got a camera from his Nana and Papa for his birthday, he had so much fun shooting all the wildflowers and bugs.  I'll be sure to post my guys photos in another post.  He is having a blast with the camera.



What can I say about this little lady?  She is so very attached to me. I am trying to savor every moment and enjoy every minute with her...I am really going to miss her this Fall when she starts kindergarten!



All in all, it was a fun weekend, just not what I had hoped it would be.  Summer seems to be going by rather quickly and I feel as though school is going to start before I know it and it's not even warm yet!  I feel like I'm in a funk these days, but I am trying my hardest to look at each day from a positive perspective and enjoy these precious days with my kiddos because they will be gone before I know it.

Gratzi Venezia

After Jeff and I left France, we took a train through Switzerland and arrived in Venice.  Here are the photos from our 2 1/2 days in Venice - for some reason they didn't load in order, so my apologies if it confuses you.  It was so beautiful and the weather was spectacular!  The only problem we faced in Venice was a stomach virus that hit Jeff and the incredibly expensive tourist traps, otherwise, it was everything I imagined it would be!

Enjoy this set of pics!

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Merci...for a Fantastic Time in France

It's been a little over a week since we got home from Europe.  We got home late last Sunday night and had to hit the ground running!  The kids were back to school last Monday, J had to travel to San Francisco and I was bombarded with the usual stuff when you get home from a trip (in addition to editing a bunch of maternity shoots I did just before leaving).  Needless to say, I was exhausted and jet-lagged and overwhelmed with the 1800 pictures we took while we were away!

We had a great time.  We ate a ton and had some amazing food.  We walked a ton (an average of 3-5 miles per day - 15 miles on the first day we were so excited to be there).  We laughed a lot.  We enjoyed adult conversation.  We held hands and strolled (well strolled as much as my 6'4" husband knows how to).  We enjoyed eachother's company and loved having time alone to reconnect and explore the beauty of Europe.  I don't know how to thank my sister and dear friends for watching my little nuggets while we were away.  I was totally at peace and knew my kiddos were being well taken care of.  It was an amazing trip - a real dream come true for me.  I will cherish the 12 days we spent in Europe for the rest of my life.

Here are some pics from our time in France...more to come from our time in Italy!

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Things I love....

I have been wrestling with the idea of posting the things I love.  I always post something fun for Valentine's Day...but seemed to have missed the boat this year.  I am in the midst of two amazing studies right now.  One is the Daniel study by Beth Moore and the other is a 40-day daily devotional on love.  I realize through out the last several weeks of study that I am living in a modern-day Babylon.  There are so many things of this world that pull and tug at me, that call me to put them before God and those less fortunate than me.  What I know for sure is that I am a blessed woman. I want to be more intentional about counting my blessings everyday, not just when I see sadness in the world or when I am feeling sorry for myself.  I want to be more intentional about looking at all the things I do have and appreciating those things and thanking God for blessing me!  I want to go against the grain and do what is RIGHT in God's eyes, not the eyes of the world.  I want to know the Lord more and deepen my relationship with him everyday.  I want to be more patient, kind, loving, giving and gentle.  I want to teach my children that what we believe to be ours really isn't, it belongs to God and we should honor him in everything, including our finances.  I want to work harder at being a woman of God. I want to focus on preparing for the Lord, rather than living up to the world's standards.

So, in light of all this...here are the things in my life that I am in love with right now:
- I have a husband who provides, honors me, loves my children, is faithful to me and God and puts our family above all other worldly things (it's okay with me if God comes first)

-I love that I have been blessed with 3 healthy amazing children - I count these little blessings everyday and feel extremely fortunate that my children are healthy. I know so many families that have little ones that are in the midst of fighting for their life or have fought hard for their little life. Thank you, Lord, for sparing me.

-I have a wonderful family - I have the most amazing sisters - we talk almost everyday and would do just about anything for one another. God has blessed me with marrying into a great family too. My sis-in-law who lives down the street from me is so wonderful and loves my kids and is there for me whenever I need her. I adore her kids and feel truly blessed to have her living so close to me.

-I have the most AMAZING friends in the entire world. They know me, love me, include me and love on me whenever I need them! I couldn't have asked the Lord for a better group of women to be my family here in O.C. thank you, girls, for always being there for me.

-I love that I live in a country where I can study God's word and go to church freely.

-I love that God has put some very special people in my life and I have been given the honor of praying for them right now - their situation is a challenge and for me it requires so much of me to pray for them and be a warrior for God for them. Some of them know Jesus and some do not....all I know is that I am called to pray for them.

-And, I love that you are here and reading this. I pray that as your eyes come upon my list, you would see the blessings in your life and be able to find the things you love that have no monetary value or cost. The things that are priceless in this modern-day Babylon we are living in.

Bon Jovi- Staples Center

J and I had another date night last Thursday night.  We went to the Staples center to see Bon Jovi's  Sold Out show.  We had amazing seats (7th row Center) and enjoyed our evening watching our favorite band play again!  Enjoy this video we took of Bon Jovi's encore performance:

Tyrone Wells at the Coach House in SJC

Last night my sis, her hubby, Jeff and I went to San Juan's Coach House to see Tyrone Wells.  I saw him last January at the House of Blues and loved the show.  Last night's show was an acoustic show and it was amazing.  I was a fan before, but am a bigger fan now.  It seemed small and intimate and was kind of like those old VH1 shows - storytellers.  I loved it and I think J is a bigger fan now that he's seen him.  Even if you don't know his music it's worth the $14 to see him play - you will be a fan after!
We waited to see him after the show (my sister and her hubby know him from attending several shows and from a show that he played at their church). He is a nice guy and it was a pleasure chatting briefly with him.

Census Year...Simple Guidelines to keep you safe

I found this useful information online...thought I'd share it with you all since it is a Census year and crime rates are going up due to the difficult economic times.  Hope you find it helpful.

The 2010 U.S. Census process begins their first phase as workers have begun verifying households addresses across the country. Eventually, U.S. Census employees will count every person in the U.S. and gather information about every person living at each address including name, age, gender, race and other relevant data.

How do you tell the difference between a U.S. Census employee and a con artist? U.S. Census employees will have a badge, handheld device, Census Bureau canvas bag, and a confidentiality notice.

• Ask to see their identification and their badge before answering any questions.

• Never invite anyone you don’t know into your home. (U.S. Census employees only need to verify your address information)


• Do not give your Social Security Number, credit card or banking information to anyone, even if they claim to be a U.S. Census worker. There are no financial questions on the Census form.


• Census employees might ask for basic financial information, such as a salary range, but you are not required to answer questions about your financial situation. There are no financial questions on the Census form.


• Census employees may contact you by phone, mail or in person at home. However, they will not contact you by email, so don’t open a link or an attachment to emails from the U.S. Census Bureau.


• Only Census Bureau workers will be conducting the Census. No other groups or organizations are performing this work.

More information about the 2010 Census can be found at: http://2010.census.gov/2010census/index.php

Birthday Fun for Sydney

We traveled to Santa Barbara last weekend to celebrate my niece's birthday...we had so much fun and the kids were so sad to leave (we had to drive all the way back home because JT had a game Sunday morning).  Here are some pics from her party!

Christmas is almost here...

I can't believe it...Christmas is only 2 days away.  It has been a wonderful month.  We have really stepped back and enjoyed the advent season.  We have not really done any parties (other than our annual wine tasting which was a blast and great fun).  We have celebrated Hannukah with our friends who are like family to us.  We have watched all 3 of our kids actually sing in their Christmas programs (which was a treat this year since usually the boys just stand and look around).

Cupcake's theme was a toy theme -so, of course she chose to dress up like Princess Lea




The boys had a great program.  It was Christmas Around the World.  Curly sang Silent Night in German (which was so adorable to hear him sing).  They were dressed as Christmas trees with a Star on their heads (so darn cute)



JT's class had Sweden, so they sang Santa Lucia in Swiss.  I loved the headdresses - they were made using the kids hand outlines.


We are looking forward to spending Christmas Eve with the Campos Cousins and Christmas day with Nana, Papa and cousins in Orange County.  I am looking forward to celebrating 12 years of marriage with J on the 26th and ringing in the new year with Vern and James.  The next 10 days are going to be filled with lots of fun and excitement.  Merry Christmas to you and yours and may the Lord bless you as you enter 2010!

Playing Catch up....

Where is the time going?  I haven't been blogging as much as I would like!  Life has been so crazy!  November flew by rather quickly.  The kids had swine flu and J was traveling and my days felt like an eternity and then before I knew it, November was gone and here we are approaching the middle of December.  We are in the midst of Advent - waiting and anticipating Jesus's birthday.  I am trying my hardest to really enjoy this time of year and focus on the true meaning.  Giving to those less fortunate, loving those around me and focusing on Christ.  Here are a few fun pictures from the last few weeks.

We enjoyed a day at Disneyland the week of Thanksgiving!





We took the train to visit St. Nick - the kids love this fun event we do with our cousins!



Curly went with his daddy to Tiger Safari - yes, he's got a gun, but it's just a BB Gun.  He had a blast with Dad all to himself.  He also did some archery, row boating and crafts.  It was a fun (but tiring) for them.




Hopefully, I will be better about posting, but if not, please have a Merry Christmas and Safe and blessed 2010!  We love you all!

Nike Women's Half Marathon 2009

This year I ran the Nike Women's Half Marathon for the 2nd time.  This race benefits the Leaukemia Lymphoma society and it a wonderful, challenging, beautiful course.  I ran it this time with my dear friend Jenni and her long time pal, Vern.  We had a great weekend in San Francisco and came home excited to see our loved ones!  Thanks, girls, for a great run and lots of fun!

On a roll....

with life, that is!  We have been super busy.  We are slowly getting into the swing of things.  We are adjusting to 3rd grade (lots of new stuff) and 1st grade (curly has to get used to homework now), Cubscouts and Cupcake is in school all day MWF.  Dad is still working like a mad-man and me, well I am keeping myself super busy between being involved in all 3 kids classes, training and trying to keep fit mentally and physically, maintaining the house, helping with Lifegroup leaders at Moms and More and finding time to meet God everyday.  It is challenging these days juggling it all.  But, I am managing!  A few things we've been up to these past few weeks...

I joined Curly on his first field trip of 1st grade to Riley's Farm in Oak Glen.  This is one of my favorite field trips and I had a great day joining my boy (Thanks, EKru, for watching my girl so I could be with Curly).


Curly started Cubscouts and he is loving it.  He looks so darn cute in his uniform...I could just eat him up for dessert!  We had our first "Go See It" and we went to ElMo Frosh football game, it was so cute to see him with his den.


J and I attended a fundraiser for "Life Rolls On".  It was a lovely evening that was extremely inspirational.

Shaq's shoe was up for auction...it was HUGE! I put my cell phone next to it so you could see how massive it really was!


It was fun to see how generous people can be when it comes to helping those in need.  Kiptyn from The Bachelorette was there and I got a chance to meet him...he was super nice and friendly.


We went to the pumpkin patch with my sister and her kids...we had a great afternoon together.  My sis drove down from Santa Barbara to pick up their new mini-van, my mini-van.  I must say, I am really sad to not be driving the mini-van.  With J's new position as a Partner, he is now officially in the L.A. office and needs a more eco/wallet friendly vehicle - the gas-guzzling suburban just wasn't cutting it!  So, I am now driving the suburban (which my peeps have now named Great White after hearing that our old van is now called Thunder).

10 Ways to Be a Great Member of the Family

I just started reading this book for my Moms and More Group at church, it's called Raising Kids for True Greatness by Tim Kimmel.  I just finished the 1st chapter and loved these so much I thought I'd share them with you:

10 Ways to Be a Great Member of the Family

1. Everybody helps everybody...always in a whatever ways are needed


2. Be upbeat, positive and encouraging


3. Remember "please" and "thank you" are not just good manners; they are calling cards of a grateful heart


4. Have a lot of fun, just not at the expense of anyone else


5. Each week, do your best to eat as many meals as possible together as a family.  You'll cut the chance of your kids using tobacco and drugs in half and double the chances of "A's" on their report cards


6. Respect one another's space and stuff.  Ask, and it most likely will be given unto you.


7. Guard family traditions, and do your best to celebrate all birthdays, holidays and major milestones


8. Guard the morals and integrity of everyone around you.  Be sensitive about how you communicate, what you view, and whom you bring into the family circle.


9. Be quick to rally around a family member who is down, whether it is a result of sickness, injury, failure, rejection or discouragement.


10. Assume that the Lord Jesus is an ex officio participant in every detail of your family.  Make sure He always feels at home and comfortable with what's going on.

I'm looking forward to reading more of this book, but thought Tim's list was such a great list of stuff to remember...I think I may even post it up to be reminded of it daily!  What are your thoughts?  Do you have anything you would like to add to the list?

T minus 4 days

That's right people - we've only got 4 days left of our summer vacation.  We've been busy - so busy that I haven't been blogging.  We went to San Diego and Catalina, having some fun lazy days relaxing by our pool.  I wanted to post a few pics from the last few weeks..we are counting down to Wed.  We are sad to say good-bye to summer, but ready for a great year ahead!

We got to see the Padres victory over the St. Louis Cardinals (only win of the series)


Enjoyed a wonderful day at the San Diego Zoo

JT loved the new Elephant Odyssey

We headed to Catalina for some family fun and had a blast. The kids loved the island and want to go back!