Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!

LeGoLaNd CaLiFoRnIa!


JAWS attacks!

Run for your life!


Who's your mummy?!?

Ahoy there!


DON'T FEED THE ANIMALS!

Aaron lays an egg.

Have a Lego Christmas!

PUSH!!!

Disneyland--after dark.

Riley at the door of the white rabbit.



Who's driving this thing!!!



California Adventure!




Walking along the beach in Oceanside, CA.





We walked out on this rock wall to see all the surfers and maybe see a dolphin. No dolphins but at the end the rocks were covered with star fish. Lane found out the hard way about high tide. The surf came in and crashed onto the rocks and soaked him!








Fishing in the San Diego Bay.

Gene and Aaron both caught good sized Red Rock Fish.


Austin and Lane weighing in on the catch.



Riley gets the award for the most unusual thing caught. She caught an Octopus!
He survived and we threw him back.


Austin was feeling a little green in the morning but perked up when we started catching fish. This is his Calico fish.



This was the Scorpion Fish that Gene caught. We were not allowed to handle any of the fish because they carry bacteria and poison in the barbs on their fins and gills as a defense mechanism. One scratch or poke from the fin of the scorpion fish was 10times worse than a bee sting.


We caught about 4 Sheep heads.


Check out his CHOMPERS!!!


Lane had the catch of the day! This Sheep Head was about 12 lbs. and 20 inched long.

This was my first catch of the day. Austin was helping out by chumming the fish :)


Aaron's Calico fish.


Nancy and Riley both caught good size Tree Fish. And "yes" Riley caught it all by herslef. Tree fish was one of the popular catches of the day.



Gene's WHOPPER!!!! Look close--it's there. It was the pee-wee catch of the day.


We had a great holiday with our family in California! It was wonderful to escape the cold weather for a few days and have some fun in Southern California. We hope all of our friends and family had an enjoyable Christmas and safe New Years.

Let 2010 BEGIN!!!

The Real Meaning of Christmas!!!!

Jesus is the reason for the season. Keep HIM in your hearts during this Christmas season and ALWAYS!

Tie + Overtime + Shootout = Great night at the Predators game!!!

Silly Memories

My little girl has the personality of a FIRE CRACKER!! She comes up with some of the craziest things. This past 2 weeks I was talking with friends and family and sharing stories about her and a friend said "oh, you need to write that down so you won't forget." So here goes.



About 3 years ago Riley was in pre-school and I was going to school. Our mornings were tight for time so we didn't have a lot of time for wardrobe changes. Well, for those of you that know Riley you know she's gonna do what she's gonna do!! She would not get dressed and we were running late. So I got her dressed against her will and sent her out the door to get in the car. I grabbed her back pack and opened the garage door to find my 4 yr old naked in the garage screaming "I'M NOT WEARING THAT!!!" So I quickly picked up her clothes, put her in the car and took her to school. I did feel bad for her teacher. I dropped her off in her underwear hold a bag of clothes.....in tears.



She's always wanted to dress herself and we have gone the rounds many times. I tell her it doesn't match or it's to hot (in July) to wear a turtle neck and fleece pants outside. Her reply is always the same..."It doesn't matter, I like it." So I let her be herself and she now does her own hair. We call her Cyndi all the time in honor of Cyndi Lauper, of coarse.



From a very young age Riley has had it all figured out. At least SHE thought so. When it was time to play all was great. Run around & get out toys. But when it came time to clean up we heard a lot of "I can't want to" or the always popular "I can't, my tummy hurts."



She is the queen of the popcorn!!! She's loves popcorn as much as her daddy does.



We have had our fair share of broken arms in this house. Riley broke hers during a soccer game. I was worried that she would never want to play another sport again. Her coach even came to the ER and told her to never be afraid to try again. After her cast came off I asked her if she would want to play soccer again. She says "nope, cause soccer broke my arm. I think I want to play karate next." She has no fear!



Most recently we were home for Thanksgiving and Riley had her tonsils out. She had a few days of pain meds and just laying on the couch relaxing. She and I watched the Wizard of Oz together. She's seen it at least 2 other times. Close to the end of the movie she's says "huh, flying monkeys......you don't see that everyday?" Maybe that's the pain meds talking :)



Just this morning she was sitting at the bar eating breakfast. Gene came in to say good bye before going to work. Riley was wearing a t-shirt that reads "I'm a rock Star!" So her daddy asks "Can I have a kiss good-bye from the rock star?" and without skipping a beat she says "No, you don't have a back stage pass."

Like I said....FIRECRACKER!!!