thanksgiving 2014 (cont.)

i'm so far behind on posts and before any more times passes,
i had to share a few highlights of our time in utah.

the utah gerbers are active and kept us and the kids moving which we love.
{i told c they are one of the few families we could do adventure vacations with}.
we have similar lifestyles and with kids the same age, it works out well.

when we weren't eating or watching the wildcats, we were playing ping pong,
tennis or hiking. the boys were outside almost from morning to dusk on turkey
day exploring and playing with the dozens of kids that live in the neighborhood.

i grew up in a neighborhood full of kids, but nothing like this neighborhood.
kids were everywhere and they played outside all day it seemed - it was fabulous!
shannon reminded me that there are lots of mormons in utah and many still have
large families, so it's no uncommon for her neighbors to have 4 kids.

with every street being a cul-de-sac and no thru-traffic, parents felt safe to let their kids
roam and play. i forgot to mention the huge park with trees and lots of open area, tennis courts
and bikes trails a short walk away. I can see why they moved here.  c and i let our boys go and
didn't call them in until it was time to eat.

it was refreshing to see these types of neighborhoods still exist, and to know there are
still parents around today who are comfortable letting their kids out of their sight to play.
kids need an opportunity to put all that teaching they've been given since they were toddlers to practice.
it fosters growth, confidence and helps 'em  prepare for the world. 
shannon and trevor fully understand this.

one morning, we all went hiking to a place trevor's family calls the 'vortex'.
the drive get to the park was gorgeous but once we parked, the real fun began.
the boys ran and explored red rock mountains, boulders and trails until we came upon
the 'vortex' which is literally a giant hole in the earth that one can hike down into.
the kids were in heaven! {and it was the perfect amount of physical and mental challenge}

the vortex

 
 
 
 












the afternoon before we got on the road, i did a little photo shoot of maya and her bestie callie.
the girls were so excited, it made me excited {no bribing them like i have to do with my two}.
i drove the girls to two great locales that maya had picked out and the girls spent an hour being
my models.  oh it's so much fun to have a niece! 



















~ i'm missing the utah gerbers already and beautiful st. george. 
the red rock there is truly spectacular. fortunately, we will get to see this sweet
family again in the spring.  trevor is planning to do this ironman,
and the san diego gerbers will be on the sidelines to cheer him on!

thankgiving 2014

silent gratitude isn't very much to anyone.
- gertrude

the boys and I returned to san diego with our hearts full of
gratitude for the utah gerbers and for all the blessings that we have.

i love that thanksgiving allows me to reflect on the life i've been given and
the people who share my world.  years ago, my parents started a tradition during
this holiday where each guest shared what they were thankful for. 
it's such a simple thing but it carries so much meaning.

since getting married, the tradition continues and i've found over the years many
families have the same tradition.  those who don't are always happy to as expressing
gratitude is what the holiday is about. my eyes lite up when my brother in law suggested
we do the same before our meal.

i was so touched listening to everyone's words of gratitude.

i hope to post more about our time in utah,
but for now, i'll just share a photo of the lovely thanksgiving table.
my sweet niece, maya created the gratitude centerpiece. so cute!

utah bound

it's been a whirlwind  week and weekend but i wanted to spend 5 minutes to post
before i hit the sack.

i'm up late tonight washing clothes and packing for our trip to st. george  tomorrow.
the boys and i are super excited for some down time and to spend thanksgiving with
the utah gerbers!

i've got wine for the host/hostess, 2 new audiobooks downloaded to my phone,
a few books on my kindle and the boys have paper books stuffed into their backpacks.
we've also got 4 tennis racquet and cans of balls in the backseat of the car
and a few bottles of wine are wrapped in towels at the bottom of my suitcase. *wink*
i think i'm officially ready.

by 1pm tomorrow afternoon, this is what the boys and i will be seeing from our front
windshield - lots of beautiful red rock.

scout's first book club

two weeks ago, we  received an email from scout's teacher informing us
and a small group of parents that our children had been selected to be
in a 'special' book club. i loved the sound of this immediately.

this book club was special, because it would be lead by the director of explorer.
scout was one of four 2nd graders selected and he was beyond excited!

he came home not knowing that his teacher had already sent an email to the
parents to share the news, so i didn't let on when he ran to greet me at my car door
when i arrived home from work.  with a huge grin on his face, he told me all about
it and informed me that his best friend spencer was selected as well.

he told me the are currently reading the award winning book, the one and only ivan. 
i had heard wonderful things about this book and actually had it saved in my amazon
cart for christmas. 

it warmed my heart to see genuine support from finn. 
when i commented on how great this club sounded,
finn chimed in with "it is mom, it's a BIG deal that scout got selected".
(scout beamed as he really loves big brother's approval)

we are so proud of our ravenous little reader!
books have given him so much knowledge about so many things,
they've helped with his writing and spelling
{give his almost any word and he'll spell it for you}.
last, he's gained so much confidence in himself through reading.

here's our little reader with his buddies awaiting the director to arrive.



 2nd grade book group
left to right: spencer, josie and scout

~ while scout's been reading this book at school,
at home he's been reading the harry potter series all over again
he finished the final book {#7} on monday night. 
he was literally beaming afterwards.
it was as if he had just finished a delectable desert.

months back i inquired as to why he was reading the series again
since he read them all in 1st grade last year.
and because there were lots of book in our library he hadn't read yet.
he emphatically said because the harry potter books are THE BEST EVER!!! 

i smiled and said i totally get it.  i've read books and watched movies over too.

books - they are so wonderful and oh so important. 
a momma friend shared this article with me yesterday.
it made me smile and reminded me reading matters...ALOT.

movember

movember is in FULL swing and friends and family members
are participating by growing mustaches of all kinds.  my b-i-ls
shared photos with me today and i almost fell out of my chair.
they looked like 80s porn stars and well, my husband does too.

i'm not like my girlfriend who finds staches 'sexy',
in fact, i'm not a fan of facial hair on men in general,
but this is for a great cause, and the brothers are having so much
fun with this.  it's also cool to know my husband has the guts to
do this because he isn't a fan of facial hair on himself either. hehe   

there's lots of styles out there right now, and i kinda like this image
i pulled off google.  i think c's sporting the 'porn star' mustache,
though he insists it's more like the 'major'.   honestly don't look at
it too closely. regardless, it's ridiculous and i have to live with it until
the end of the month.  i'm practically countin' down the days.

a fab friday

don'tcha just LOVE fridays?!

me too. *wink*
it means the work week is almost over,
and we get more time to do the things we can't squeeze in during the week.
for me, that thing is spending more time with my 3.

we seem to be spending more and more time at the club these days.
the whole family is enjoying tennis, but the little guys are the ones improving
the most of all. c's in a men's league and i'm considering joining the woman's league.
i want to be able to keep up with finn and scout....at least for a few more years.

last night c sent me this photo. the boys were eating dinner {there is a café there},
and watching a match.  i was still at work but this made me smile. 
scout looks completely focused on the match and finn just looks plain exhausted.
he had seacamp that day.
    

scout, age 7 - evening at the sdtrc

seacamp is a BIG deal to 5th graders in san diego.
it's something they look forward to since the beginning of the school year.
the kids take a research boat out in the open ocean ALL day and even get to snorkel.

i was just thinking that a lot of kids around the country are preparing for snow and
so cal kids can still swim and snorkel in november. they have it pretty darn good.

~ i was hoping to join, but learned about a month ago that no parents were needed
or could tag along. the boats were full between the kids, teachers and researchers.
bummer!  it would have been a fun field trip.  i promised finn i'd join a future trip.

enjoy your friday and weekend!! 

go green: fall soccer 2014

scout's soccer season is coming to an end and i can
hardly believe i haven't posted about it.

it came and went very fast this year, and seemed shorter than
usual because of the 3 games scout missed due to his stitches.
despite it being short, it's been a really great season!

scoutie has spent the majority of the games playing defense...
his favorite position as he enjoys keeping the ball from getting
anywhere close to his team's goal.  when asked by the coach is he
wanted to try playing goalie for half a game, he declined. 

i think this has been his best team yet....the coaches are wonderful
{both played at college level and on a men's team after college}.
the boys are all sweeties and their parents are pretty cool too.

a few photos i snapped this season of scoutabout.

 

 

i almost forgot, the best soccer move we've seen all
year from scout occurred at last saturday's game.
the goalie from the other team kicked the ball to a teammate
and scout jumped up and headed it back towards the goalie. 

it was his first header in a game and awesome. 
{sure wish it had been recorded}. 
we all cheered and the scout sported one of the biggest grins
we'd ever seen from him. 

green lightning's last game is saturday.
we are REALLY looking forward to it and the end of the season party. 

you and me...everyday

so it's not gonna be easy.
it's going to be really hard; we're gonna have to work at this everyday,
but I want to do that because i want you. i want all of you, forever, everyday.
you and me... everyday.”
- nicholas sparks, the notebook 





ahh, i just love this quote and yes, this movie.
i'm sure i've posted that i adore this movie sometime in the past in the life of this blog.
it's a favorite of many females - it's got gorgeous ryan gosling and a beautiful love
story. even though i've seen it a few times, i still get goosebumps.





when i watch this movie, i think of both young and older love,
my parents marriage and of course, mine, and all those newlyweds out there.
i think love at any age is exciting, but i think it's more hopeful when we are young.


young love is eager, adaptable, honest and so full of promise. 
it's quite beautiful and why i gush {like so many others} at weddings.
i've been asked a few times over my married life if I'd marry young
again and my answer is always the same, YES. 


sure it hasn't always been easy, and we had to live in college apartments for
years, but that was all part of the fun...saving up together and working to
save for a condo and then later a house. 


gush at when i think about marrying young, i have never regretted it.
would i want my boys to marry at 21. no, I'd prefer they wait until after col