We arrived in Montana

We arrived in Montana!  Our first stop was the Mustard Seed...if you haven't eaten there, you should.  It is one of Chad and I's favorites.  We had dinner with Nana and Papa and LOTS of cousins.  

After dinner we drove down to Hamilton to see Nana and Papa's house.  It is the same house that Nana grew up in so the kids were very excited about that!  They even got to sleep in her room that she use to sleep in.  How cool is that?  

Cousin CJ's new beetle!  See Drew waving? Her kids Ashley and Cody are sitting in the back.  Cody and Bryan were fast friends - they spell trouble with a capital T together.  Ashley told her Mom that "Tyler was her new best friend".   Family....there is nothing better!  

Happy 4th of July!

The 4th if July is one if my favorite holidays.  I love the colors red, white and blue!  I start shopping for our outfits in March!  Yep, 4th attire and Christmas attire - I love shopping and planning for pictures.  

This 4th of July was our first 4th in our new home in California.  Our little community has a bike parade for the kids - it was so cute.  The kids had a lot of fun decorating their bikes and scooters.  After the parade we headed home to cool off in our own pool.  Ahhhhhhh - refreshing!  We hung out in our pool and BBQ'd all day.  In the evening, we walked down to our park and let the kids run around with friends.  Then we watched fireworks from our park's view.  Kennedy tried to stay awake.  Our little firecracker fell asleep at 8:55 - fireworks started at 9:05.  I asked her this morning if she saw fireworks - her response, (in a sad voice) "I saw one, not very many".  

Happy Holidays!!

Date Night At Disney With My Boys

 The castle is BEAUTIFUL at night with all the icicles!

Santa on top of his float during the Christmas Parade. 

I had a fun date night with these three handsome boys!!

                                          

 It snows after the big firework show above the castle! 

 Bryan has "snow" in his hair!

 It is "snowing" on Main Street.

We love Disney - but during the Holidays, it is our favorite!! 

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all

Tyler loves Kindergarten. He made this special Pilgrim hat the other day. He thinks recess is the BEST!!

At the beach - in November!

 Life is sure better at the beach.  Living 20 minutes from the beach isn't to bad either.  Now that the sun sets at 6:00 pm it is easy to catch a sunset on the Pacific Ocean also. 

 My mom came and visited us at the end of October/early November.  She loves going to the beach when she comes and visits.  There is something about the ocean breeze and salt water that cures everything!  My kids don't even fight when we are there. 

The Holidays are right around the corner....

Halloween is over and Christmas has already taken over the stores.  Poor Thanksgiving, it never gets a proper welcome.  We are going to Brian Barry's house, in Newport Beach, this Thanksgiving and we couldn't be more excited!  We will get to introduce the kids to Chad's Aunt and Uncle - Diane and Art Barry - and more cousins.  Chad and the boys can't wait for turkey, stuffing, mash potatoes - I think I am hungry!  We hope y'all have a wonderful Thanksgiving - give hugs and THANKS to all those you love. 

 My precious lil' Cinderella. 

 Peter Pan - orange hair and all!!

 Drew is the cutest dead pirate!

 Don't mess with Captain Hook!!!



Salmon Pictures from Alaska

 We are eating lots of salmon in our house.  It tastes so much better coming off of Chad's fly rod than Albertson's. 

 I don't think Chad ever stopped smiling in Alaska.

Pictures of Disney

Starting to feel settled in California

Wow!  We saw that we lasted posted in June.  We don't think we have sat down once since we moved June 1st. 

We bought Disney Annual Passes on June 2nd to help the kids with their transition to the West Coast.  As a family we have been to Disney atleast 14 times since June 2nd.  Nana and Papa (Alene and Tom) enjoyed a day of "Everything Disney" with us in July.  We were still "rookies" when we were with them.  Grandpa Allen came to visit us in August and we were much better tour guides when he was here.  Grandma Marie is coming to visit in October - we told her she needed to get her walking shoes ready! 

We have enjoyed being only 25 minutes from the Pacific Ocean as well.  While Daddy was working during the day the Kids and Mom would leave the house at 10am and come home around 6pm after boogie boarding, building sandcastles, jumping waves, finding sand crabs and laughing. 

It is always 80 and sunny in California.  We have truly enjoyed being outside and enjoying bike rides and hiking!  It was always so hot in Georgia during the summer months with that darn humidity.  It has rained maybe twice since we moved here also.  We think we have found a little slice of weather Heaven. 

We are missing our friends and house in Georgia but have started to make new friends here.  The boys started school Sept. 5 and are also playing soccer - so we are meeting some really nice families.  Drew is in 3rd grade this year.  He had a rough couple of first days at the new school they are attending.  It is nothing like the school he knew in Georgia.  I volunteered a lot at their old school and was surprised at how different they are.  We are both learning together and have decided we can't compare the two schools - they are both great for different reasons.   Bryan is in 1st grade this year and is charging full steam ahead.  He loves that he has two recesses!!  Tyler is in Kindergarten - which is only a 1/2 day in California.  He is pretty sure Kindergarten is the best thing to ever happen to him. 

The house we are renting has plenty of room for visitors - so come on down to sunny Orange County.  If you do come visit - make sure you fly into the John Wayne Airport not LAX!  We would love to see you!