Mammoth 2012

Last weekend we were able to take a long weekend trip to Mammoth! We started our 6 hour drive on Thursday to meet Jeff's parents up at a condo they got for the week!

I'm happy to report Owen did great on the drive! A few little fusses here and there but overall he did great! We borrowed a travel DVD player and that seemed to help too! Thanks Milo & Otis and Cars!

This was my first trip to Mammoth! Jeff was so excited to bring me because this is a place that he came to as kid many, many times! It was so beautiful, to say the least! This was the view from outside of our bedroom window :) The condo was awesome too! Nestled right in the Sierra Forest!

These were the condos we stayed in with the mountains in the background, breath taking!

Mammoth is filled with mom and pop shops, and privately owned places! I love that! It is so nice to get away from chains and support local businesses! We went to this awesome coffee shop called Java Joint! They had yummy coffee, yarn, handmade headbands, bags and all sort of goodies! It was definitely my kind of place!  They even had the international nursing sign in the window letting nursing moms know they can come on in and whip it out ;)

We loved spending time with Jeff's parents! It was fun to just sit around, laugh, talk and explore Mammoth. Owen LOVES his Gran! They always have the best of times together!

There was an awesome little park right next to our Condo, we walked there to let Owen get out some energy! On one of the days the comm

This is the condo we stayed in the corner on the bottom! There is Jim and Debbie walking back, they celebrated 32 years of marriage!! That is pretty awesome!!

Jeff got to fish it up for sure!! He caught SO many fish!

We also got to check out a fault line! It was pretty crazy, it was literally a huge crack in the earth!

Owen LOVES being outside so everything about this trip was awesome for him! He picked up sticks, and pine cones played in the dirt and got a ton of fresh air!

We explored the lakes and took int he beauty! That is a waterfall running down into the lake, it was breath taking! I just wanted to sing worship songs and praise God for the beautiful creation!

Here we are at the top of the waterfall! SO gorgeous!

We wanted to take the Gondola up to the top of the mountain to check out the views, but it was just way too windy!! I am just a BIG OL KID! Trying to look like Superman flying! It was so dang windy, I could barely stand up straight!

Jeff and I got to sneak away on a bike date to Looney Bean, another coffee place! It too was delicious!! It was nice to talk with my man and enjoy the mountain fresh air together! I miss bike dates, we did it alot in Seattle, its nice to live in a bike friendly placwe!

We ate breakfast one morning at The Stove! The cutest, coziest breakfast place! The food was pretty yummy too!

Debbie and I checked out lots of shops, and let Owen play while the boys fished most of the trip! Owen got to meet the Fire Engine dog (I just typed dong instead of dog, I laughed... thought I would let whoever reads this know so they might laugh too!! dong... hilarious) He got an awesome Fire Engine tattoo too that we helped him put on his arm :)

Jeff took me fishing for some Trout, I didnt catch one, but I learned why people like to fish, it really is relaxing!

The last night we went to Black Velvet Coffee Roasters it was seriously one of the best Vanilla Lattes I have had since Seattle! It was up there with Vivace for me in my book! SO SO SO SO GOOOOOOD!!

Jeff surprised me the next morning and grabbed me a bag of their espresso for me to bring home! It's been so yummy to drink!

We loved Mammoth! We hope to continue the tradition from Jeff's childhood and take our kids once a year! We feel so blessed that we were able to get away for a few days and enjoy the great outdoors!

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Candy Shop Loop

A couple of weeks ago we went walking on an awesome trail in the Ortega Mountains! We took my dad, step mom and two of my brothers along! We had such a blast and it was So so pretty!

One thing I have loved is being able to spend time with family! On this particular day we just called up my dad and asked if he wanted to go on a hike with us, he said yes, and we went! That is one of the many blessings of having our family close again!

We found this cray well that actually pumps water! We loved watching my brothers monkey climb all over the rocks and hills!

Owen was so amazing! He is such a good boy!! I put him in the Ergo, which he only goes on my back now, he likes to look around and I think facing me bothers him because he can't see what is going on! So the back is a great place for this doodle! He totally passed out and slept almost the entire hike!

We had such a wonderful time with our family! We finished off the day with some homemade enchiladas!

Yummy!

Family Pictures

We got family pictures done!

My friend Meghan, who has also done all of Owen's pictures took these as well, she sure is talented!

Love my dudes!

Family feet :) I love Owen's face in this one!

We love our little cowboy!

Cooper made it into the pictures too! He is a member of our family :)

Love the way these turned out! Can't wait to print them and get them framed!!

<3

My Man

Can I just say, I love date night with my man! We realized after having Owen, that it is  critical that we get out at least once a week together alone, just the two of us; to reconnect and spend time together! Even if it is just an hour for a coffee or an ice cream just anything!!

We went to BWW the other night and we had a blast chowing down on some wings and enjoying some drinks! We went home and made a fire, sat outside and snuggled up!

I just have to say I love my husband, he is an amazing man, and hard worker, a great provider, and loving dad, and a wonderful friend, I am lucky and blessed to be his wife. We have been through so much, and every night I go to sleep next to him, and wake up to his crazy alarm clock, I am forever grateful for him.

For our fight for our marriage, for God's grace, for the hard times, for the good times and just for everything. He makes my life better, he is my other half, he makes me laugh, tickles me until I am begging him to stop, thinks everything I cook is delicious, loves when I make him cookies, calls me throughout the day just to say hi and chat about our days, tells me he thinks my freckles are cute, watches my movies with me, shares our love for Criminal Minds, New Girl, and Raising Hope, loves being parents of our little Doodle!
I could just go on and on and probably make ya want to puke, but I just can't help it, when I sit down and think about what my life might have been like, if God didn't intervene and save what we had, I just can't even imagine. It causes me to be grateful for this man everyday!

Alright I'm done.

Be thankful for your man, go give him a kiss! maybe two!

:)

Owen's First Christmas

My Doodle Bots first Christmas!!

It was so fun and filled with so many memories!

It was very, very, v e r y busy though!

We need to have more kids so that we can make everyone come to us

Like everyone says, Owen was waaaaay more into the paper and bows than the gifts he got, but boy oh boy was he so cute to watch!!

No worries, I did not leave him alone like this :)

Our Christmas festivities began at 9AM on Christmas Eve, we loaded up our car and cruised on down to Fullerton (zero traffic!) where we spent the entire day at Jeff's Grandma's house. We got to see all of Jeff's side of the family! We made a delicious dinner, exchanged gifts, read the Christmas story, sang Christmas carols and had a really great time!

Owen was totally spoiled by all of the aunts, uncles, and grandparents! He got all sorts of new toys, I think he might have been a little over stimulated with all of the commotion!

He did score this super cute, Bass Pro hat! What a turkey!

We had a blast with Jeff's family, we always enjoy going and spending time with them!

Christmas morning began at 6AM, we got our selves a cup of coffee and woke our boy up to enjoy some more Christmas cheer!! We snuggled in our jammies and let Owen open his gifts from us! We loved watching him eat all of the presents! Jeff loved seeing his face light up when he got to play with his new fire truck that lights up and makes all sorts of noises!

We are totally those parents who want to open everything up, take it out of the box and play!! I remember as a kid never getting to open anything when you first got it, you had to wait and that was always lame!

We got dressed and loaded up our car again to cruise over to my moms for traditional Christmas breakfast! She always makes yummy food and sets the table so nice! We enjoyed laughing and exchanging gifts with them as well! Of course Nana and Grandpa spoiled Owen! He got lots of goodies there too!

MMMMM... Crepes, Breakfast Casserole, Cinnamon Rolls, Fruit... Delicious!

After spending a couple hours with my mom we loaded up our car again (sheessshhhh) and headed over to my dad's house for traditional Christmas Lasagna!! (It is heaven no joke)

We hung out and exchanged gifts with them too! Of course, more spoiledness for Owen, at this point I think he was definitely getting tired! We had to open most of his gifts. We ate the world's best Lasagna, then we all snuggled up to watch Planet Of The Apes which was really, really good!

Tammy made a delicious Cheese cake!

This was my son by the end of the night, all tuckered out! There was drool going all down my arm! He slept like a champ the next 2 nights!!

Me and my man on Christmas Eve! Love this guy!

These were some of my Christmas treasures! My hubby really spoiled me this year! He got me that piece of art in the bottom right, I absolutely LOVE it! I hung it in my sewing space where I can admire it daily! I also got some beautiful bowls from Anthro, and a staple gun! ANNNDDD a gorgeous crock pot! My family really knows how to give good gifts, Jeff and I were so overwhelmed and thankful for everything!

We mostly love just being with family, last year we lived in Seattle, and though it was nice to spend Christmas just the two of us, we really love being able to see our parents and all of our brothers and sisters! They make everything just that more fun! So in the end, after we have driven half way around the world, it is all worth it to see the people that matter most to us! :)

Here are my two best gift! I don't know what I would do without these guys, the bring joy, laughter and love to my world. They brighten my days, bring warmth to my heart, and fill my life with smiles!

We were so completely blessed this Christmas, God has grown our family in more ways than one, we see His grace and love all over our lives. He is the reason we get to enjoy all of these blessings and we are eternally grateful!

Hope you and your family were just as blessed!