Charity, Love, and Family

Grab This!



My friend Gretchen and her husband are trying to adopt this precious little girl. Sometimes I think she is a little nuts, but hey aren't we all? She is already the mom or 3 very active boys ages 6, 4, and almost 2. She is also expecting a baby girl come February. Adoption has always been in their plans but it wasn't pressing, until they found Marissa. She looks like their children, she laughs like their children, she reaches out through the thousands of miles and through the computer screen and takes hold of your heart. She has been neglected, yet beams at you like the sun. I'm not good at posting links but you can find their adoption story on my blog friends, Ready and Waiting the Gillette Adoption story.

I'm asking for all of my friends and family to please put them in your prayers. I believe that God works in miraculous ways, I believe that this family is meant to unite with this precious little girl.
And if you are feeling generous you can donate to their adoption, every little bit helps! Lets bring this girl home!

I'm Back....... Again!

Well it has been far too long! I can't believe the last time I posted was February! I lost the cord to my camera and figured once I found it I could update and upload.......well it was never found. Then on a trip to Idaho this summer said camera with 6 months worth of pictures was lost. So I'll sum it all up

February: Dominicks birthday, the Death of my Best Friends mother from Cancer
March: Saint Patricks Day Disney trip with the Downs Family
April: School field trips, Spring break
May: Mothers Day, Dominicks Baptism
June: School field trips, Trip to Disneyland with Randi and her boys, Kindergarten Graduation, Fathers Day
July: Long visit to see the Gillette Family in Idaho, then to Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, back home for a week, then back to NM and AZ.
August: Swimming, heat, swimming, beach, more trips I'm sure, my Birthday, a blur of a month....
September: Trip to AZ for a car and B/F's birthday, Paytons birthday, our 9th anniversary, school starting, another trip to Disney, Airshow, etc......

Frankly the entire summer is a complete blur, we were gone for most of it. It seems like we have been on the go constantly. I do have some pictures from a new camera that I will upload soon. Here are a few from a family photo shoot my cousin did Labor Day weekend.
We miss all of our friends in different states and hope we can be better at keeping in touch!

Valentines Day

We don't usually do much for Valentines day around here. I have never really been that into it and my husband feels its a girls holiday! But I found these cute Valentine card ideas on a friends blog, just couldn't resist. 

For some reason P's picture wouldn't upload right, it kept turning it like this.

Anyway HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

The Big 8

I think I have always taken for granted, having been born and raised in the church. I have gotten sidetracked a few times along the way, but I know that I have a true testimony of my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  With Dominick turning 8, I realized he wasn't ready for baptism. I know if I asked him to do it he would, but I don't think he would fully understand the covenant he was making. So he has started meeting with the missionaries and preparing himself for that next step.

I CAN NOT BELIEVE my son is 8! That is just crazy and insane to me!

We played a little trick on him, his sister got him a nice starter kit for a DS but he doesn't have a DS. Then he got to open the rest of his presents (I held ours back for last). When he opened ours it was an Empty DS box. (I know you are thinking we are the meanest parents EVER!). HE was a little upset but knew he could still play my old DS when allowed. As he took his presents up to his room he found his new DS sitting on his bed charging and ready to be played! He was SO excited!

 Books from Nana

Time sure does fly because that little boy is now 8. Soon he will be baptized (I hope), he starts boy scouts, he is playing baseball, loves to dance, and is a master lego builder. He LOVES HOMEWORK! His favorite food is spaghetti and he loves chocolate! He always has his nose in a book, sometimes 2, and currently has started the Harry Potter series. We LOVE YOU DOMINO!

Cheerleading and all things Payton

January has been a busy month for me. Payton has been the focus of most of my energy. We have really enjoyed our time together though!

Payton and I had a mother/daughter date night. We got mani/pedi's and went out for ice cream!

Payton started cheerleading for the Base YMCA, I am the team mom

You can't really tell but she lost 2 teeth! The adult teeth actually came in before the baby teeth came out. We were worried that she would have to have them pulled. The first one came out 12/23/10.

And with everything that has been going on, this is what most afternoons look like! She comes home from school, does her homework, then crashes on the couch! I have to wake her up after 30 min. or it would be impossible getting her to bed.

I just can't believe that my little girl has gotten so big. She is in school all day, has cheerleading 3 times a week, and is turning into such a mature person! We are trying really hard to enjoy these times with our kids, because they go by so fast!

Dirty 30!

Thats right he is the BIG 30

This man is my Best Friend!

He is also an AMAZING DAD!

Happy Birthday Jay!

Torrey Pines State Reserve Field Trip

I have really enjoyed having both of my children in school full time. I get lots of free time, plus I am able to help out with school functions more freely. Today I got to chaperon Dominick's class to the Torrey Pines State Reserve.

It was beautiful. I am excited to have found a new place to take my family to on our days off. It's a great place to hike and just take in the beauty that surrounds us.

The class learning all about the animal and plant life in the reserve. They also learned about the different layers of rock and earth that we would be seeing. Very educational, I learned a lot of new things today!

The Torrey Pine Tree, only found in Southern California and on an island 160 miles NW. It is different because of its "5 fingered" needle bunches.

The kids examining the needle bunches.

The "red butte" or as we learned today, the Linda Vista layer of rocks. They get the reddish color from all of the iron deposits (rust...)

One of the cliffs along the shore line. Such a breathtaking view. You can see the trails and hikers too, one of these days I would like to try all of the trails.

After lunch we got to enjoy the state beach. The kids were thrilled! They acted like they had never been to a beach before ( I have to say it's pretty cool to do that on school time).

The kids searching for "souvenir's", they weren't allowed to take anything from the reserve but the beach was a free for all. And those kids took advantage!

And class B8! A pretty amazing group!

Happy New Year, We are Back!

HAppy New Year to all of you! It has been a long time since we have posted, so one of my New Year resolutions is to post once a week. I know I am already a week behind! I have also decided I am not going to "catch up" we are starting fresh.

An overview of what 2010 was like for the Cherrey Family:

January: Moved to San Diego, celebrated Jay's birthday, made new friends and settled into a new ward.

February: Dominick turned 7 and we went to Disneyland

March: Had lots of visitors, got passes to Sea World, Jay officially graduated from Nursing school.

April: Spring Break times three, Legoland, Sea World, Legoland, Sea World, and Jay starts his "terminal leave"

May: More Sea World, More of Jay being home, more visitors

June: Jay still home, Dominick has a Hip-Hop competition and they place 3rd.

July: Payton spends 2 weeks away from home with my parents, we take Domino to Six Flags, spend 4th of July on the beach, and Jay officially retires from the Navy.

August: Jay still home, no job, my birthday, Sea World

September: Payton starts Kindergarten, Dominick starts 2nd grade, Payton turns 5, still no job, Noelle has her baby, Jen has her baby.

October: Sea World, Halloween festivities, still no job

November: Finally a job! A new house to go with new job, Jay's mom visits for Thanksgiving, more Sea World.

December: Settling into new home, Christmas with Family and Friends in AZ, Payton looses first tooth, and an additional job for Jay!

As you can tell we spent a lot of time with Family and friends, and a lot of time at Sea World! The passes were an amazing deal and became a blessing during those months when we had no money and no job. We really couldn't afford to do much but Sea World was free for us! This kids really enjoy the shows, rides, and all the different sea animals.

Now here are a few pictures of the new house, we are really LOVING the space and feel very blessed to have found this home.