Brothers Photo Shoot

Well our intention was to have a family picture taken over Thanksgiving break for our Christmas cards this year. Unfortunately, Adam was so busy that week and with family visiting and going to San Diego for a couple of days we just could not get all together so I took the boys for a photo shoot. Now I find it very hard to pose 2 teenage boys without them looking gay and I also find it hard to keep them focused and not goofing off long enough to snap a picture. I swear they are harder to take pictures of now than when they were young! Matthew was the goofiest! Here are some picture from the shoot....

These were used for the card ---

And here were some of the out-takes (there were alot of these)
and these were not used for the card.....

They are goofs and they can drive me crazy but I love them and they do crack me up!!

Year Re-Cap

I am having such a hard time starting blogging again and I think it is because I feel like I have to include all that has happened this past year. I just cannot do that----it is just too overwhelming! Lots has happened this last year and so I included a letter with our Christmas cards this year for those friends of ours that we do not see very often. It is a great recap of some of the things that have happened in our lives so I have decided to add it here to my blog and maybe I can get past the feeling of reviewing and just start blogging on our current day to day life. So here is a copy of the letter sent out this year----

Merry Christmas! We hope this greeting finds you and your families well and that the past year has been filled with happiness. This year has been a full one for us so we wanted to update you on our happenings:

Matthew (18) graduated from high school this past June. I can’t believe that we have a college student now! He finished his high school career strong by earning a 4.6 GPA and was one of the valedictorians in his class. He earned many awards and scholarships and is currently attending BYU on a full academic scholarship. We are so proud of him and glad that he has been awarded for all of his hard work. He loves every minute at BYU and is looking forward to serving a mission for the church this next year. We sure do miss him around here but we are so glad that he is having such wonderful and memorable experiences in Provo. He enjoys playing with his band KON (when he is home), reading, playing guitar, learning, takes an active interest in politics and loves to have a good time

Zack (14) is adjusting to being the only child at home and he absolutely loves having all of our attention focused on him. Ha ha This past June he culminated from Middle School and is currently a freshman in High School at our old alma mater Royal High. His life continues to be busy with starting early morning seminary, playing high school football and now he is currently on the wrestling team. He is gone from sun up ‘till sun down! He enjoys playing the drums, teaches himself songs on the piano, tries to find time for schoolwork and continues to work on achieving his Eagle Scout. He is such a good-natured kid and is really a pleasure to have around. We are trying to enjoy every moment we have with him home before he flies the coop like Matthew!

Adam has been kept busy still working for Los Angeles County Public Works. He has also added to his busy schedule when he was called to be Bishop of our Ward. Boy were we surprised! It keeps him with a full schedule but he feels blessed to be able to serve the Lord in this capacity. As for me, Pam, I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful men! Adam is an amazing husband and father and the boys continue to bring us much joy and happiness. Life has been good for us this year with so many changes and milestones.

We were very fortunate this year to be able to take some great vacations and make memories as a family. On July 4th we were able to fly back East and enjoyed exploring Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington DC. We had such a great time and are proud to say that we were able to travel using all public transit except for one day that we rented a car. It was awesome! We had so many fun experiences and moments that we will never forget. Adam and I were also able to finally celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary (which was actually in 2010) by going to Hawaii this last September. I was lucky enough to win the trip and some spending cash on the game show Let’s Make A Deal---so what’s better than a vacation but one that is free! We spent a relaxing week at the Turtle Bay Resort on North Shore and it was divine!

We hope and pray that all of you will enjoy a wonderful Christmas season and that your homes and families will have much joy in the coming year!

Time Flies

Yep--it is really sad when you view your blog and realize that the last post was last year and your background says "Happy New Year!" SAD :( The really sad thing is that so much has happened in our lives since my last post but there is no way I can recap everything but I figure I will just add things from the past as I move forward. Life is definitely an adventure and this past year has been one of highs and lows and a year that will not be forgotten. Between graduations, new beginnings, great vacations, new callings, saying goodbye to a child and so much more----one thing is for sure---life is never dull! I am making my way back to the Blogging World!

Officially a Teenager

My baby is officially a teenager! Zack turned 13 years old this month! Most people thought he was turning 14, even his Grandma, but he is a young one for his grade-- probably one of the youngest in 8th grade. At 5'8 1/4" tall he looks as though he should be 14! (I had to include the 1/4 inch because it is very important at this age)

Zack has changed so much this last year. He has grown taller, his voice has deepened, he has become maturer (believe it or not), he has quite the six-pack and I have got to admit I think he is a pretty cool kid. More important than all of that he is a good kid and he still loves his Mom! Zack had a party last year so we just celebrated his day as a family and as always he likes to get money- It is so hard to see them grow up but exciting to see who they become-----LOVE this kid!

SURPRISE!

Matthew turned 17 in October! I cannot believe how fast time flies----it seems like just yesterday I was planning his First Birthday Party! We figured this might be one of the last birthdays he spends here at home so we decided to throw him a surprise party. October is always such a busy month and there were really no weekends available but we fit a party in and I planned it rather quickly. We had to plan it on a weekend that Adam was away at some scout training thing but he did arrive home just an hour before the party so that was nice. Matthew's friends were awesome at getting the word out but there is always that fear in the back of your mind that know one will show up and you start thinking "Why am I doing this?" And to come to find out there were alot of other things going on that night so to say the least I was worried.......... But this is why I go through the stress-------- Matthew loves a party and I think that we actually surprised him!!

Sure do love that boy or I guess I should say young man----I sure am going to miss him next year when he is at college on his birthday!

Fright Fest

When I was younger I used to love rollercoasters - the scarier the better - and I loved scary movies! I don't know why I enjoyed being frightened but I did and I still do a bit but I have noticed that the older I get the more of a whimp I become. You would think that being older and wiser I would realize that none of these scary monsters from movies, such as Michael Myers, are real but now they scare me even more!

We took the kids and some of their friends to Fright Fest at Magic Mountain this last October and Adam and I let the boys go off on their own and I thought Adam and I could just enjoy a night together strolling around the park watching others get scared. We didn't even pay extra to do the Haunted Houses---just walking through the park we came across many frightening characters. Adam had a blast seeing me get scared and screaming at the top of my lungs! Come on I know they were just people dressed up but they scared me soooo bad! There was this guy that was going around dragging a shovel and just that sound sent shivers down my spine. He creeped me out and he seemed to follow me all around and get right up to my face! In fact he even blew in my face------creepy! But by far the scariest were the clowns and we came upon a couple of them and the one came right up to me and I was screaming like a mad woman and grabbed Adam and ran away---little did I know he was right behind me and as I looked around I almost had a heart attack because there he was, staring at me, right over my shoulder! I hate clowns!
The boys had a blast and told me that if I was that scared walking aorund the park that there was no way that I could have handled the haunted mazes. By what they told me of them---there is NO way I would have survived! We had a great time even though I was freaked out most of the time but I am glad that I could give my husband so much entertainment :) And a little part of me still likes to be scared............

Adam enjoying the rides

Me going in for a kiss with a creepy hearst driver

And these were by far the creepiest and scariest guys I saw that night!! ;)

Disneyland for Free

I know it has been awhile since I have blogged. Our desktop computer had crashed a couple of months ago and so I did not have access to all of my pictures and I realized that without pictures I really hate to blog. I am trying to get use to this other computer and learning how to navigate it so hopefully I will get back into updating my blog. I have so much to catch up on but I will just take it day by day and hopefully I can get this year recorded here before the year ends----which is coming up really soon!

Back in September we were able to make it to Disneyland with the tickets we had earned for free by doing service. There is nothing better that a day at Disneyland except for a Day of Disney for FREE! We had ended up making blankets for babies back in January, which ended up being more work than I had expected, but it became all worth it when we saved over $300 in going to Disneyland and also of course the joy that we felt from doing service ;)

It has been quite a few years since we had been and we had an absolute blast! I think Matthew was the most excited out of all of us and he ran from ride to ride with about as much (if not more) excitement than he did when he was really young! It was too much fun! We pretty much got to go on and do everything that we wanted to do except that the park was having some technical problems so Space Mountain was closed down all day and other rides were closed periodically throughout the day. Disneyland was awesome though and they gave us complimentary tickets so that we can return another day! So we are looking forward to returning before Matthew leaves home next year. All in all it was a perfect day--- full of fun, laughter and family!

Here is a picture of our family from when we went in 2000

And here we are this year, 2010

(Sorry-Adam was really happy but the picture I have of him smiling he was practically cut out)