John's Homecoming, Visit and Mason's 2nd Birthday!

John is home from his Mission!! He came home on November 6, 2013.  It was such an exciting day! That morning my sister and I took the kids to get haircuts.  Then we headed over to the airport with my mom.  We were all so excited and each time a missionary came down the stairs we would get really excited only to realize it was someone else's missionary!  Finally he came down and it was so wonderful to see him in person!! We all gave big hugs and took tons of pictures.  He looked a lot older and seemed so happy!

The rest of the week was spent catching up with him, going to the temple, eating family meals together and just enjoying each others company.

After we left, my mom and brother flew out here to see all of my moms family.  On Saturday November 16th, I threw a little party for him where I decorated the house in Canada themed things and posted tons of pictures from his mission.  We had a great dinner with some appetizers specially from Canada.  The whole night was awesome.  The rest of his visit was packed with a ton of fun outings.  We went to Santa Cruz and saw the Monarch butterflies, Beach, San Francisco and the Jelly Belly Factory.  I was exhausted by the end of each day to say the least, but it was a lot of fun! We also played games and John even made fresh squeezed orange juice for us from oranges from my neighbors tree.  Overall it was an awesome visit and we missed having him around.  

Halloween 2013

Halloween came and went but it was much more fun this year with a 2 year old.  He got so excited for the "teets" (treats) and the "Condy".  He caught on quickly and ran up to each house with his cousins.  He didn't quit understand the meaning of 'only take one'.  He would grab this huge handful.  We didn't let him go crazy afterwards, but he did have about 3 suckers and he was in HEAVEN!!!  That's pretty much all the candy he had.  Haha.  The Wolf's came over before hand and we had some yummy appetizers and then went out trick or treating.  When we got back the kids ran around and ate candy.   

Pumpkin Patch with the Wolf Family Oct 5, 2013

To celebrate Logan's birthday the whole Wolf family met at a pumpkin patch in Brentwood.  They had a hay ride, magic show and lots of fun things for the kids to do.  It was really fun and we had a great time spending time with family!  The weather was perfect too.

Labor Day in San Fransisco

For Labor day we went into the city to go to the marine museum on Pier 39.  We had some free passes through the library and it was fun but not worth the $25 per person regular cost!  We took bart into and walked to Pier 39 then went to the Ferry Building to get some treats.  We had such a fun time.  Mason loved running while we walked to Pier 39.  We were even able to make it back for nap time because the bart ride was only 20 minutes.  The weather was perfect and we ended up going to a huge park on our way back to bart.  I love cheap fun activities that we can do as a family!

Girls Weekend in Santa Cruz

Since I am so behind, it is time to catch up!  Back in August we were invited to a wedding reception in Santa Cruz, so we decided to stay the night and make it a girls weekend! The wedding was beautiful and it was wonderful to see old friends from Santa Cruz.  We went to Gayle's Bakery for dinner and then the reception.  The next day we went to the beach.  It was so fun to spend time with my Grandma and Mom.  

Hazel's Birthday Celebration

A few weeks ago, we headed out to Corralitos, for Hazel's one year birthday! Amy, is such a dear friend to me and we wouldn't have missed it for anything! Thanks for planning such a fun party Amy.  You guys are the best!

I couldn't get any pics with Hazel looking :(

My old house on Clubhouse drive!

Last Night with the Hoxies

The saddest thing happened this Summer.  My sister and her family moved to Utah.  I think the saddest thing about it was that it happened so quickly, and I wasn't ready!  They had taken a trip to Utah and decided on that trip to move to Utah and three weeks later they were gone.  I spent about 2 weeks crying every day just thinking about how driving to Livermore would make me sad and that I thought they would never leave!  They had lived there for 7 years and seemed to be the solid rock that would never leave.  Yet, they needed to do what was right for their family and I know they will be happy in Utah and there kids will love it too.  

The last day they were here, they were frantically trying to get everything ready to move.  I had the pleasure of watching their kids while they got ready and then late that night they all slept over.  The next day I watched their kids again while they got ready and then they came over one last time and we balled our eyes out and they drove off and that was it!

At first when I found out they were leaving I felt like I would be all alone here, but then I realized that this is life and I should make the most of it! Since they left, I have filled my days with lots of social, fun things.  And it has been awesome.  We Facetime all the time and talk every day.  Life goes on.  I am happy for them and I am happy too!  Everything works out for a reason :) We miss you Hoxies!!!