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!

Extended Spring Break part II

After my parents visit we had another visit. Our friends the Downs family came to spend the last part of their Spring break. Boy, were my kids spoiled and lucky, they had back to back visitors and then their Spring Break came along too!

So here are the kids anxiously awaiting Legoland to open!

Dominick and Mikey in the back, Sarah, Payton and Elizabeth in the front.

All of the kids IN Legoland, they were SOOOOO excited!

The Downs Family picture, there is a stowaway off to the side, she tried to go home with them too!

The kids took the parents for a drive!

And here is my namesake! Sarah squared!

Aunt Cassy and her Goddaughter Payton. I think I rode with Sarah or Elli more than my own kids, and it was all by choice!

Elli was having a blast, but she got a bit chilled! Yes, we dared to do the water rides!

Mom and Daughter, trust me it was super hard to get this picture!

The "MEN"

A picture of the picture, the favorite rollercoaster.

BFF'S FOREVER!

It was a long day, but well worth it!

We LOVE this family and are so glad we are within a days drive of eachother! Mike was my fill-in husband when Jay was in Iraq. If it weren't for this family I don't know where I would be! It is so wonderful to have them in our lives and that the kids are so close also!

Seven, SeVeN, SEVEN!

I can't believe I am the mother of a seven year old! I don't know where the time has gone, I really don't. Dominick's favorite color is green, his favorite sport is baseball, his favorite saying is oh snap or wicked, his favorite food is spaghetti or steak, he has lost 5 teeth (one on his birthday), his favorite hobby is building legos, he loves to read (currently started Captain Underpants) and he loves to "invent" new things.

Dominick and Ethan

Dominick, Lauren, and Payton

Happy Birthday!

He was so excited about every gift! So gracious to everyone and grateful!

Wild Party!

The day was perfect for a party! Warm and sunny and the park was perfect. We are so glad we had a chance to celebrate, even though things kept going wrong! Dominick just kept saying it's ok, I have my friends and thats all I need. We love you Dominick and are proud of the man you are growing into!

Enjoying Cali.......between rainstorms!

Well, whoever said the weather here was perfect was slightly mistaken. So far we have had more rainy days than not, but the temperatures have been fair. So between storms we headed to the beach!

It's funny how small the world really is. Over 2 years in Boston and it took a move to San Diego to meet this wonderful family. The Bunker's have been wonderful to us and Payton became fast friends with their daughter Avery.

We got rained on at the park, so we drove up the beach a few miles to what is now called Seal beach. By then the rain stopped and the view was amazing!

The kiddos were wet and enjoying every minute of it! Such troopers! Avery really enjoyed showing us all of the sights.

We stopped to look at some of the wildlife, you could have reached out and touched them! I think they were soakin up as much of the sun as they could!

This guy wondered away from all of his buddies and found his own sunbathing rock! He sat there so still and looked up at the sun, I knew exactly how he must have been feeling at that moment " Ahh peace and sun, what more do I need".

Payton and Avery looking at the foamy water, payton asked me if someone had poured Bubble Bath into the ocean.

There really were some amazing views at this beach. This little waterfall was definately one of my faves!

And "Seal Beach", apparently it was made to be a wading pool for people, but the seals found it to be a better spot for them. They swim in the little cove of water and play, then wiggle onto the beach for their afternoon naps. Has anyone watched a seal move? It is very comical and Payton has tried mimicking the move ever since!

Now to top off the wonderful afternoon, some tree climbing!

It was a really nice afternoon, Thanks to the Bunkers!

Oklahoma

On our cross country travels we were lucky enough to stop by and see some really wonderful friends. Jason "Dell" Delonais is one of Jay's buddies from the Navy. At first these two couldn't stand one another, now he is our sons Godfather and a great friend to have. Tara (his wife and best thing to ever happen to him) and Dell now live in Oklahoma. They made sure we had a wonderful visit with them, it was too short but better than nothing!

Look at those fools, whats with all the facial hair!

This was on the family "houseboat", the kids LOVED it!

Dell, Tara, and the kids. They treated us to a fun game filled evening at

a place called LOL (I think). Dell helped the kids win a TON of tickets

and buy ridiculous prizes! What a Godfather..... and he shaved!

At the top of the only mountain for 100's of miles!

Is that Dell before he shaved? NO its a real live buffalo!

We drove through this park and had some close ups with these beasts!

An old church and "village". They do an Easter pageant here. They have the whole town, crosses, and tomb. It was very interesting and humbling, yet strange at the same time.

The trip was amazing and we can't wait to do it again!

Our First Day in Oklahoma 7/6/2009

One of Jays best friends from the navy has moved to Oklahoma. This man has been with us from the beginning and is Dominick's Godfather. So our cross country trip was the perfect time to pay Dell and Tara a visit. On a stroke of luck our visit coincided with the end of another old navy buddy's visit. It was really nice seeing Tim again after all these years, it really brought back some old memories!

Like the rest of this trip, I left my camera behind! I can't believe how many good moments I have missed out on because of my forgetfulness. Dell took us all to a local water park for the first day. It was small, Really CHEAP, and a LOT of FUN! There was a kids play area in a shallow pool, a lazy river, some kid water slides, a wave pool, Several big water slides, and the toilet bowl. Dominick was able to get everything in, except the toilet bowl (he wasn't big enough).

Our visit with Dell and Tara was a lot of fun and I have a TON of pictures. So there will be a few more posts! I know I am behind, but I will try really hard to get caught up by this weekend, so keep your eyes peeled!

This is a really poor picture of the water park. It was taken from the Highway

Uncle Dell, A shock to see his "Post" Navy persona!

The kids ready for a fun day at the water park

Domino, Dell, Jay, P-Goat, and Tim

Dell, Tim and Jay all served in Iraq together. Not to mention all the fun trips to AZ together while Jay and I were dating. It was great to catch Tim while he was in town!

Our own Fireworks

Dell, Tara, Domino, and Jay, looking for the perfect fireworks!

The "sprint" don't let the fireworks getcha!

Domino helped light that one and ran!

You never can catch great fireworks on camera!

This is P-Goats "hiding" spot from the noise and flames!

We were actually in Texas over the 4th of July weekend. Because of a fire-ban we were unable to watch a public display or do our own. The kids did get a chance to play with some sparklers and had a lot of fun doing it. When we got to Oklahoma, Dell was upset to hear that the kids didn't get to do fireworks. So what does he come up with........ A huge box of left-overs from their 4th weekend. Domino had a blast picking out the cool ones and watching them go off! P-Goat on the other hand would run and hide! What a little snot, but secretly from her spot in the truck she smiled and watched. Once again THANKS Dell and Tara!

Our last days....

So some of the girls and I went out to a last minute "Good-Bye" dinner. Thanks Gretchen for setting it all up. I'm really thankful to these ladies (and some who weren't able to make it), they really helped make Boston the best "Home away from Home"!

Saying Good-Bye to Julia at Chuck-E-Cheeses!

Our last Boston Beach trip! We spent a few hours playing at the playground and searching the beach for snails, crabs, and other little sea creatures.

P-Goat isn't too Happy, she is having a hard time realizing she wont see anyone for a long time!

Rob and Emily, we really will miss you guys! See you in NM soon......