Happy 40th Birthday Dave

Dave

The boys..

ok..we'll be serious!

The girls taking advantage of Dave....

Me and Dave
Josh and Jen

Suzann and Scott

Trisha and Tracie

Larry and Nacole

Jeff and Robert

So after stressing and planning what to do for Dave's 40th Birthday, I decided to invite a few of our closest friends and head to dinner at Lucille's BBQ, a favorite place of ours. We had a great time eating and visiting and definately laughing a lot...my throat was sore the next day. All of our friends that we invited were able to make it but one couple. It was small but full of BIG fun. After dinner we headed to my girlsfriends house (she graciously offer..so so nice!) for cake and presents, slide show and a little pool. We again had a great time socializing with our buds. Tonight we will be celebrating quietly with our family..enjoying dinner at CPK and cake at home. Thank you to all of you who have made Dave's 40th birthday memorable and special! Happy birthday Dave, we love you! ps...he loves the Apache Helicopter!

Happy 10th Birthday Abby.....

About 2 Abby 9
Abby and her girlfriends Friday night after dinner.

Our Abigail Lorraine turned the big "10" yesterday August 18th. We celebrated over the weekend by inviting 4 of her friends to dinner at Spaghetti Factory, then to the movies to see Bandslam and back home for a sleepover. Abby had a great time and I think her friends and sisters did too! Yesterday Dave and I brought pizza to Abby's school and enjoyed lunch with her and her friends. She then celebrated at cheer practice that night and shared homemade cupcakes for everyone! I think she enjoyed her birthday and is already making a list of things to buy with her birthday money! Thank you to all who made her day special!

Blog to check..

My friend requested the address to one of my favorite coupon blogs... it is cloud9couponing.blogspot.com. If you go to this blog...she has links to many more. krazycouponlady.blogspot.com is one of my favorites. Hope this helps!

That Was Fun!

Ok, so all my life I have been a "pick it up and buy it" kind of girl. I know horrible, but it is true...I have gone through my life at different times attempting to do the coupon thing, but usually I forget the coupons at home or don't plan ahead. Well during my trip to Seattle my sister Sarah and my Mom told me about their coupon adventures and how they were really working at saving money on groceries...everything really. They turned me on to some cool blogs that follow deals, coupons, sales ect. I have to say I have become a little addicted to reading those daily...even sometimes going back for seconds. Well anyways, so I have been doing this for about a month now and I have definately seen savings..it is amazing what you can learn by actually "reading" the grocery ads that come during the week...my favorite mail now. So today after careful planning I set out to Von's and Ralph's. Von's is the same as Safeway. I didn't even hit my beloved Winco. Anyways, I was pleased after I was finished shopping at both stores. Funny thing was, my girls got a kick out of it too!

Von's OOP- $63.78

Savings- $82.79

Ralph's OOP- $36.82

Savings- $59.06

Total Cost before Savings- $242.45

Total Cost After Savings- $100.60

Total Savings- $141.85

Yes...I know there are some of you out there that could of probably cut that number in half...but since none of our stores double anymore and I worked with what I had...I didn't do to bad. I was kind of proud actually. Anyways, I thought I would share with you my adventure and challenge you to create one of your own! Happy saving! :o)

I Survived The Sleepover!!!

Amber's birthday was on June 15th...because of soccer we decided to hold her big 8th birthday sleepover on Thursday. No I never do things simple as my sister would say...but as my mom would say...our family is full of traditions! This is ours...we have a huge, crazy, fun sleepover for their 8th birthday. We had girls from church, soccer and school,15 in all, but it went well! The girls had a blast together and it was a great way to kickoff the summer. BUT, with that said, I can proudly say that I survived my final major sleepover...

Thank goodness!

Raeley, Amber and Jade
Twins, Savannah and Madelyn(Shield fans, they were Vic's daughter)
Amber and Madison

Thirteen...missing Ashlyn and Eva the camp leaders. That pool saw A LOT of action over the last 24 hrs..The girls had a blast. I thought it might wear them out...not so much.
"Amber's Tent"....Where all the fun was! We had a camp
theme this year. It was a lot of fun. The tent is huge, but we barely
fit all fifteen girls inside. Needless to say, they were NOT cold last night.
Eva and Ashlyn....the camp leaders! They
were so helpful! You have to love those "older"
children! Thanks girls!
The cupcake "Birthday Cake ".

Amber's new bike. We drove to three different storeslooking for that perfect bike..and in the end, we ended up back at Target! We LOVE Target!

Happy 8th Birthday Amber!

Born June 15, 2001

About 4 months
About 4

Present

Happy Birthday Amber-Lizzie! We love you and can't

believe you are already turning 8! You are the baby of

the family, but you are growing into such a big girl! We love

you and we are so happy you are part of our family!

Happy Birthday!

USA JR. NATIONALS

Abby and her CSA cheer team competed on February 28th in the USA Jr. Nationals. The competition was held at the Hyperion Theater at California Adventure. The Hyperion is where the Aladdin stage show is. It was really fun! The girls did great, although they did not place...due to a last minute change in scheduling by USA, we found that they moved our team to the wrong division..one that was at a higher level...We didn't know this until later and STILL thought they did great! Abby nailed her stunts and smiled through the whole routine. Now we are gearing up to head to Las Vegas for the next competition..I am sure they will be great and WE will have lots of fun!

Outside the Hyperion

A few teams lining up for awards.

The team outside the Hyperion following the awards ceremony

Abby and her best buddy Abbie...

Having fun playing at California Adventure following the morning competition.

Cal Cup 2009

Olimpia

Cal Cup 2009

A few months ago Ashlyn had the opportunity to join a Club soccer team. The photo above was taken of her playing in her first tournament game with her team Olimpia. It was really exciting. The above game they won 3-0, going on to win the next game 2-0 and finally tieing the 3rd game 0-0. They won their pool and went on to play the following weekend in the Quarterfinals where they lost after a great effort. Olimpia is a Bronze East team moving up Silver in the Fall. I mention this because they lost to a Silver Elite team in the quarterfinals. I wish I could take credit for the picture..but it was professionall taken by an action shots company. I think it shows Ashlyn doing what she loves..playing soccer! Now they are on to another tournament this weekend..Wish her luck!

FINALLY!

Finally, I am so happy to have my blog back to normal. After having Cutest Blog on the Block webpage down and messing up my gadgets, I finally have it back to were I want and not just a boring black background! Yeah! I know sad, but I am really happy!

A Visit from Seattle

We had a great time when my parents came down for a week long visit. My mom was full of project ideas and by the end of the week had me all set up to add food storage to our collection, files to my filing system, and with the help of my dad, a whole new toliet system! But I have to say that by the end of the week, she was band from saying the "C" word (clean) the "O" word (Organize) and the "P" word (Project). No really it was so nice having them here..we miss the already and hope they come back soon.

I know this was a famous scene from the war..just can't remember what it was called. I think every little boy was tempted to look up her dress!

We took a day trip to San Diego and walked the waterfront down by the cruise ships and the aircraft carrier. It was a cool day especially when the fog started rolling in.

Amber and Papa at Olivera Street.

Mom decided to make fleece blankets for the girls for Christmas. It was a really fun project and the girls enjoyed being part of the process. Even the trip to the Fashion District in downtown LA was exciting..can't say I'll do it again though! :)

The Holidays and The Wii

Happy New Year Everyone...ok so I am a little slow. I like slow, can anyone slow down this year? It is already starting to fly by way to quickly..I mean 2009? Wasn't it just the other day that we were afraid of 2000? Anyways, the holidays were great. Since we had so much company during Thanksgiving and right after, we decided to spend Christmas and Christmas Eve with just our family. It was really nice. No stress, no cleaning, no trying to prepare for a dinner with guests, just us. It was perfect. Of course I think the girls thought it was perfect too...As you can see from the picture above, the girls were THRILLED to get a Wii...oh and may I add that Mom and Dad got the credit for that instead of the big jolly guy in the red suit..that was fun! So, we spent most of Christmas day in our jammies playing tennis and baseball, bowling, golfing, and boxing...oh boxing. If you ever want to see if you are in shape, just box a little! Wow what a work out. Absolutely crazy hard. I was sore for 3 days after playing..played again and then was sore for 3 more. What a blast it was though. I guess that was Mom and Dad's favorite gift too! Happy 2009!

Although we will not be "home" for the holidays to spend Christmas with our family...you are in our thoughts and we look forward to seeing you in the New year. Merry Christmas!

DRASTIC!

Ok..so the only word I have been able to come up with is Drastic! Last week we had some crazy weather hit Southern California...we went from enjoying 70-80 degree weather to 36 degrees and a TON of rain. It was crazy..now I know what all you Seattle people are saying...come up here, I have already gotten a lot of flack...however relatively speaking that is COLD for us warm blooded people here..where the sun always shines and we wear capris and flip flops 9 months out of 12...ok, I am sounding like a baby..but it was cold. The mountains too were absolutely beautiful covered in snow. This is a picture of the mountains we see out our window. I too this picture last Thursday in the parking lot where I work. It was awesome.

Fontana Christmas Parade Dec. 13

Abby and Abbie

LAPD Recognition Day 2008

On Dec. 11, 2008 Dave was honored with a Life Saving Medal presented by the LAPD and Chief Bratton. It was an incredible honor for him to recieve this medal and stand by many other heros within the department present that day. The girls and I were really proud of him and I know the rest of his family was too. His mom and dad, brother and family from Arizona, his brother from San Diego and his sister and her family from San Diego came. He also had 3 of his fellow officers from the Unit come....the others were working. Those that came, Maggie, Louise, and Tony. We were all happy to see him recieve this medal for all of his effort. PS..since he was wearing his Class A Uniform, he decided to shave..but not cut his hair. It was an interesting look and definately got some attention!

First CSA Competition At Ayala High School

Abby and Abbie

The girls cheer team CSA participated in their first official competition. The girls had a bast and we had fun too. It was an all day event with cheer teams from middles schools, high schools and novice teams. The team took 2nd place in their division and qualified for Nationals which will be held at California Adventure in March. They have several more competitions in between including one at Knotts. They are working on new stunts and Abby is still a flyer..they want her to try and get her back flexible enough to do a scorpion..regardless..she loves being in the air and nailed all of her stunts at competition without falling. Yeah! On to the next event.

HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY ASHY BOO BOO!

Ashlyn 5 Months WOW! I have an 11 yr old! It is amazing to think that I have a

child this old! It truly feels like just yesterday

that she was born and started our little family.

Her dad and I are so proud of the young women she has become.

She is a beautiful girl inside and out and we love

her very much. We are so glad she is a part of our family.

She is a wonderful example to her sisters. They love her too!

Happy Birthday Ashlyn!

BLUEBERRIES FALL 2008!

Asst. Coach Jeff, Team Mom Beverly, Amanda, Briana, Ariana, Jennalyn, Coach Lisa, Makenna, Nikki, Amber,

Stephanie, and Jaden

It's OVER! Yesterday my team, Amber's team, played their last game of the Fall 2008 season. They won 6-3 which was par for the season...the girls went undefeated in 10 games. They were such a great group of sweet girls all with talent to play Soccer. It was fun coaching at the U8 level again...

Thanks for a fun season girls! I will miss you!

Rancho Cucamonga Founder's Day Parade

Abby and Maddie

Only part of the team..Maddie, Abby, Rosalyn, Micah, Abrisa, Josalyn
Gearing up and waiting...in 80 degree weather!

The girls following the Coach's Hummer..

Last weekend Abby and her Cheer team participated in the Rancho Cucamonga Founder's Day Parade. During the parade they stopped at the MC's booth where they performed and were judged. We later found out they had taken first place. The trophy itself was as tall as Amber...HUGE! She is having a lot of fun with the team. They are now gearing up for their first competition in December and a Christmas parade. We wishe them luck! GO CSA!