Warmth. And doodles.

Warmth.

I like to be warm.

Inside and out.

Tulips are my favorite flower.

I love flowers with all my heart.

I find it strange that I have many many flowers in my gardens,

but I don't have tulips!

WHY?

Because you are supposed to plant them in the fall,

and I always plan for it too late!

Frost hits, and I slap my forehead every stinkin' year...

TULIPS!

Can you plant them in the spring? 

 Please let me know

if you can... 

I would love it if you can...

Tulips warm my soul.

And so does this sweet little patch of sunshine.

Spring is coming friends...

The birdies are telling me so.

My youngest is now 8 years old.

I remember when my oldest turned 8.

Wow, was she a big girl.

But your baby is your baby, you know?

As I watched her perform in her 2nd grade play, I was overcome

with emotion for a bit.

Will this be the last grade school play my kids are in?

It is possible.

So I ATE IT UP! 

Enjoyed every tasty morsel of that innocent, joyous 8 year old play.

My littles are growing.

Aren't they beautiful?

And sweet, sensitive, giving, & happy.

I am blessed.

As my JoBugs sits in her sister's room,

they talk.

And as they talk, she absentmindedly grabs the whiteboard

and dry erase markers.

And she doodles.

She doodles the cover of the book sitting next to her

on the floor.

Man do I wish I could doodle like her...

and on a whiteboard too...

Tasty Tennis.

We left town again.

And headed to Indian Wells in Palm Springs, California!

Gotta get me some BNP Paribas Open tennis!

We went with Joanna, Justin, Karen & Jason.

Here we are ready to watch some amazing tennis.

Thought it was a great shot to get Nadal, Wozniacki & Simon

all in one picture on the practice courts.

It's funny how we amateur tennis players think we can hit a ball.

Until we see the pros hit a ball...

I love Caroline Wozniacki.

Even though she has dropped to #4, I still cheer for her.

She is one of the smiliest, friendliest pros

you see out there.

Here we are cooling off with Lemon Ice.

Luckily this year wasn't as hot as last year.

It was so nice to feel the sun.

And yes, I got to see my fave, Roger Federer!

The sight of him does strange things to my pulse.

Do you recognize the cute blonde on the right?

Elizabeth Shue!

Remember her from the 80's?

She is a tennis fan and she also promotes tennis for kids.

She got to meet with him right off the practice court.

Lucky Elizabeth...

Jo & I.

Don't you love the guy photo bombing in the back?

Ha!

My favorite match to watch was the Bryan Brothers.

They are twins and they happen to be the #1 doubles team

in the world.

Lots of positive energy and lots of fun.

They are so cool.

Last year when we saw them play they stayed until every last

fan had an autograph from them.

And this was the coolest.

After the match, you know how they sign 3 tennis balls and hit them into the stands

for the fans to catch?

GUESS WHO CAUGHT ONE?...

That's right...

See you next year Indian Wells!

Just yesterday.

To all you parents of  little children...

I came across this picture,

and I'm pretty sure it was taken just yesterday.

You may have heard this before,

but I'm going to tell you anyway.

It's super important...

DON'T BLINK.

Why aren't you blogging?

"Why aren't you blogging?"

I have been asked this question a lot lately.

And how nice to know that I have loyal followers that miss me.

Even if it is a handful of you.

It is nice to be missed.

And in all honesty I have really missed blogging.

I rarely have spare time any more.

BUT I am going to make time.

I MEAN IT!

So here we go.

A little catch up for you of the last few months.

And then maybe we can get this 

blog thing really rolling again.

Cheer me on!

Maybe that will help!

:)

HERE WE GO!

Well this was before Christmas.

My friend Cheryl and I after racing each other

to the bottom of the hill.

Facefulls of snow....

Refreshing!

And here is my crazy boy and his friend.

Took off their shirts and went for it.

...Refreshing?

Time for a cocoa break!

Just what we needed to warm up before

the next sledding session.

Me & my snowbunny girls.

Cheryl, Joanna, Kim & me...

Nothing like a tea party to warm you 

up on a cold winters day.

My girlies during the break.

JoBugs played in her first doubles tennis tournament.

They won a match and lost a match.

Way to go sweetie!

My sweet Hubs turned the big 40!!

Thanks to my talented friend Wendi for the 

tombstone cake.

It was amazing AND delicious.

And thanks to some great friends

who helped us celebrate.

My sweet beautiful Googles turned 8 years old.

In our church that is the age for baptism.

She was smiley and glowed on her special day.

Her cousin, Ty, was also baptized.

He is on her left in the picture.

A great group shot of both sides of the fam that came.

 Thank you family!

My sister, my niece and me.

Cooking for New Year's Eve.

So much fun.

I so wish they lived closer!!!

And more recently...

Trev and I got to go to Maui together.

It was WONDERFUL!

He did a lot of this...kiteboarding.

We did a lot of relaxing

and just taking in the beautiful surroundings.

I think I can hear the ocean waves right now...

I have video!
I ziplined for my first time!
SO FUN!
Ok...I did scream.
But it was a happy scream!

And I will leave you with that!
Until next time...

Cute dogs and stuff.

For some reason, there are a lot of dog pictures in this post.

I think we have cute dogs.

Really cute dogs.

The kids aren't too bad either.

Here is Googles and Jasper.  

Check out that tongue.

Here is Monkey C and her tennis partner winning a tournament.

Just a fun fact for ya...

her partner is my tennis partner's daughter.

Pretty cool, huh?

The girls and their pumpkins.

I kind of forgot to buy pumpkins for the whole fam this year...

great mom, huh?

As fate would have it, Monkey A had homework and couldn't carve anyway,

so Trev and I helped the girls.

My boy did his own.

At least we got 3 awesome jack-o-lanterns.

Costumes!

My mom hosted a party this year, so we still got to dress up

and have fun.

Did you know that Trev and I are secretly Trekker nerds?

Yup, it's true.

JoBug's friend Jeff joined us this year too.

(cowgirl, army guy, ninja, army guy, janitor, Star Trek)

More dog pictures.

I could eat them up.

Especially that Jasper boy.

Another fun fact for you...

we call our dogs Cottonball Jones and Jasper Jones.

I am  not sure why.

Our last name is not Jones.

This little guy loves sunny patches too.

Just like me!!

See?  He belongs.

I told you...lots of dog pictures.

This body pillow case was warm from the dryer.

They stuck him in there, and he didn't want to get out.

Daddy and daughter.

They borrowed the hats from my son and hung out together.

Too cute.

Holidays are coming!

Yay!

I'll end this post with the perfect quote I found.

Remember how I LOVE fall?

Well, I have enjoyed it immensely this year.

I know it is almost over but... 

"Delicious autumn!

My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird

I would fly about the earth 

seeking the successive autumns."

 - George Eliot

Last camp out.

I think you know we are an outdoorsy family.

We wanted one more camping getaway before it got too cold.

So we packed everybody up and went to Hepner, Oregon for the weekend.

Good campground, beautiful trails and trees, & not too far from home.

And of course we took our quads & bikes.

Good Morning me! 

And dogs!

Yes, my camper is wonderful.  LOVE it.

Started the day off with a good breakfast!

Oatmeal, raspberries & toast!

Say yummy!

We hit the trails.

Why do I love all the blond hair coming out from my daughters' helmets?

Because they are all cute tomboys?

Don't know why, but I do.

How many times have we posed on these rocks?

Pyramid Rocks.

We all still love to stop here on this trail and climb.

And pose.

And their true natures...

Our turn.  

Hee.

Is that a dirt biker totem pole?

Or my son?

The girls on our hike.

It was a beautiful day.

Not too cold, not too hot.

So fun to see the fall colors.

Collecting roasting sticks in the forest.

Had such a great time with Trev and the kids.

My favorite parts were just hanging out with the family,

the hike with the girls, roasting marshmallows with the sticks

the girls carved, and watching Raising Hope together before bed.

Have you seen Raising Hope?

Love it.  It's a laugh and a half.

Well, I think that's it for our camping this year.

Good bye lovely camper!

See you next year!