JT and his girlfriend

Here's a quick picture of JT and his "girlfriend" Amy today.... Aren't they cute?

We are in TROUBLE!

Yesterday when Abigail and I were coming back from our shopping trip, she asked me why some people get married more than once. I told her that sometimes it takes people a while before they find the person they are meant to be with. You can imagine what came next..... She said, "But it didn't take me very long to find Nolan." What do you say to that? I tried to explain that she has plenty of time to find the person she will marry. However, in her mind, she already has! Are we in trouble or what?

Here are a couple pictures of Abigail and Nolan from the last day of school....


In any case, we can use these pictures to embarrass them when they are older....

Let's talk about our day...

The boys' day
Today J.T. had a Fathers Day BBQ at his preschool. Andy was able to go and even talked J.T. into trying a hot dog... and he liked them! After the BBQ was over, Andy and J.T. went to work. They were able to do all kinds of fun ranch things... ride a 4-wheeler, sort cattle, doctor a cow, etc. They had a great time.

The girls' day
After Abigail got home today, she and I went to Eureka to do a little clothes shopping. She needed a few summer things, and it was a good excuse to have a girl bonding shopping trip. We were only there for about an hour but we found her some summer pajamas, three tank tops, and a pair of shorts. I got a couple things that I needed for our Hawaii trip. After our productive shopping experience, we had to get a snack. It was fun to spend some girl time with Abigail.

It's been a great 10 years!

Tomorrow will be the 10th anniversary of my and Andy's graduation from Cal Poly University, San Luis Obispo! I can't believe it. On one hand it seems like ages ago, but it also seems like it was just yesterday. There are parts I really miss, especially seeing my friends.

I know these photos are not very good scans, but it's the best I could come up with. Here are Andy and I...


This is my roommate, Kristen, and I. We lived together for three years.... and we still like each other! We don't get to see each other too often, but when we do, it's great to catch up!

I feel like quite a bit has happened in the past ten years. Here are the ten biggest things:

1. Andy and I were married in October 1998.


2. We bought our first home in Loleta at that time.


3. We were able to go to Hawaii for a week to celebrate our 1st anniversary since our honeymoon in Cancun was interrupted by Hurricane Mitch.


4. We started our own ranching operation in 1999.


5. Abigail was born in September 2000.


6. We decided that I could be a stay-at-home (more like a work-at-home) mom.


7. We moved to Fortuna in October 2002.


8. JT was born in October 2003.


9. I celebrated my 30th birthday, which was difficult for me. At the time, I didn't like the thought of not being in my 20s anymore. I am okay with that now.


10. We bought out my dad's cow-calf operation in November 2006.

I am sure there are other important things, but these are the things that stick out the most. It really is amazing how fast time goes by...

Last week of school!

This is Abigail and JT's last week of school. And then it's onto summer vacation. I can't believe how fast the summer calendar is filling up already! Right away, we start swimming lessons for both kids. I hope they like them. I will post more about our summer plans soon.

I've been tagged.... do I know my ABC's?

Okay this is how this works. One of my friend's blogs (Shelley from Arkansas) had this posted on her blog. She "tagged" me so that means I have to post it with my own answers. Here we go... here are my ABCs...

A
What annoys you? flaky people, the mole wrecking our yard, people that don't pay their bills on time

Are you available? as in dating? no

B
Birthday? March 18

Best Friend? Sara

C
Favorite candy? too hard to choose... love lots of things (red licorice, Twix, Kit Kat, sour gummies, etc)

Last time you cried? not sure

D
Do you own a dog? we have four, but Molly, our border collie, is around home the most

Drink of choice? bottled water

E
Essential Item? camera

How do you like your eggs? scrambled

F
Have you ever flown in a plane? yes (as a passenger, not as a pilot)

Do you use fly swatters? when I need to

G
Grilled steak or smothered in gravy? definitely grilled

Gummi bears or worms? I like both

H
Hair color? red

How are you? getting hungry because its almost dinner time

I
Favorite ice cream? vanilla

Ever ice skated? nope

J
Favorite jelly bean? Jelly Belly watermelon

January or July? both for different reasons

K
Kids? Abigail (6 1/2) and J.T. (3 1/2)

Who do you want to kill? that really is a terrible question. Although I really want the mole/gopher in our yard that is tearing up the lawn to go away...

L
Are you laid back? not really, but I try sometimes

Do you lie? only to protect someone's feelings

M
Melons or mangos? neither one

Favorite movie? Pretty Woman

N
Number of siblings? one sister

Night or day? both

O
How do you like your onions? I really don't.

Do you wish this was over? we're over halfway

P
Phobias? snakes

Paranoid? nope.

Q
Favorite quote? "Everything happens for a reason..."

Are you quick to judge people? probably too much

R
Reason to smile? great husband and kids

Do you think you're always right? depends...

S
Favorite season? early fall (best weather here)

Steak eater? silly question... we raise beef cattle so I hope so!

T
Last time you slept in a tent? before we had kids

Tag three people: none of my friends have blogs...

U
Unknown fact about me: I had braces three times (third set was free because the orthodontist messed up!)

Wearing underwear? um yeah

V
Least favorite veggie? brussel sprouts

Last vacation? Phoenix, AZ for a wedding last November

W
Where do you live? Fortuna

Worst habit? being judgemental

X
Ever had an x-ray? not that I know of...

Own a xylophone? nope

Y
What's one thing you yearn for? pretty happy with my life so I can't think of anything right now.

Yuckiest thing? lots of things... can't think of one specific thing

Z
Favorite zoo animal? bears

Zodiac sign? Pisces

Teeball season is over.

Abigail's season of teeball ended this week. We were supposed to have a game on Monday but it was rained out. Our final game was on Wednesday evening. It is amazing how much all the kids have improved over the course of 5 weeks. They all seemed to have a great time and that is really what's important.

On Thursday night we had the team pizza party and awards ceremony at Round Table Pizza. Each player received a trophy with their name and the team's name (the Mariners) on it. They were all very excited to receive these. Here's a picture of Abigail and Coach Andy with her trophy...

Here's a few more...

Here's a storyboard I put together of baby Saige...



Isn't she adorable?

Newborn photos today

I went to visit my friends Deanna and Tony, and to take photos of their little Saige. What an experience! You would think taking newborn shots would be easy.... no way! It was so much fun, though, to be around a newborn again. You really do forget how little they are... And no this doesn't mean I am getting baby fever!

Here are a few that I took today.... The first two were taken with Saige's big sister's Emily's new saddle. So obviously this is a kid's size saddle...

We had to have a little snack break in between shots so she is quite content here....

Learning about JT

JT's preschool teacher, Miss Monica, put together this really cool memory book for the end of the year. There are a few pictures, but the greatest part is where she wrote down what he said. She did one page that has a big blue star on it. In each point of the star, she asked him something and then put down his answers. She put his name in the center. It says My name is... J.T. (it is spelled "J"-"T", he said.)

Here are the five things in the star's points....

I live in... Fortuna
I am a .... Boy
I know these letters... J.T. and A was Abigail
I can count to.... 12
When I grow up, I want to be... Cowboy (Andy said, "uh-oh, we're in trouble!").

Miss Monica also asked about some of his favorites. Here they are:

Color: blue, pink, brown
Food: strawberries
Animal: elephant
Show/movie: "Cars"

I just thought I would share some of these funny little tidbits.... I probably need to try to ask him these things every year to see how his answers change!