Thanksgiving Dinner with the Harts

Dave, Caiden and I drove up to Big Bear to have Thanksgiving dinner with Papa Jim and Grandma Sue. We had a wonderful time. All of Jim's family was there including his two nephews. We all got stuffed on the wonderful food that they made. Dave and Caiden even had to retire to the bedroom for a traditional Thanksgiving nap, while Sue and I delievered Thanksgiving food to some sick friends that were unable to make dinner.

We always love going up to Big Bear to see Sue and Jim, and this time was no exception. Thank you for a wonderful time. Thanksgiving is a time to be grateful for what you have, and I can definately say that I am grateful to have family as wonderful as you!

Thanksgiving - Save a Turkey...catch a fish!

Well, what better thing to do on Thanksgiving than go fishing? That's exactly what we thought, so when we drove up to Big Bear, we didn't hesitate to go fishing with Papa Jim and his nephews, Woody and Robby. Each of the kids maintained their patience and refined their fishing skills under the watchful eye of Papa Jim (or Uncle Jim, depending on the kid) to catch 2 fish each. They had a blast, and I got some cute pictures. Caiden was infatuated with the net (which happened to be bigger than him), and he was even brave enough this time to TOUCH the fish that he caught.








We'll be eating good tonight! Congratulations to all of the boys who caught fish, and a big thanks to Papa Jim!!

This is Caiden catching his first fish of the day with a little help from Daddy, Papa Jim and Robby.

Happy Thanksgiving - Gobble Gobble

In honor of the holidays, Caiden has put his artistic side to work to create the ever popular Turkey Hat. I'd like to introduce "Tom the Turkey", Caiden's hat. Now, I have named it Tom in honor of a friend whose neighbor has a turkey that they would like to slaughter for Thanksgiving. I figured if I named it and humanized it a bit then it would be more difficult for them to serve Tom for dinner beside the stuffing and sweet potatoes, but I digress.

Caiden made this cute turkey hat in school. He even added the colored paper and feathers. I am so proud of his work. So, from Caiden to you...Happy Thanksgiving...gobble gobble.

P.S. Spare Tom!! :)

And Dinner is Served...

And it happens to be served on our brand new dining room table. Let me tell you this thing is HUGE!!! It has 3 leaves so that we can extend the table out to much bigger than we would actual need...but hey, at least we have options, right?

We decided since we are having Christmas at our house, we needed something that would accommodate our family. We searched for about 6 months, but we are either extremely picky, or the tables and/or chairs are UGLY! We either liked the table, but not the chairs, or liked the chairs but not the table...to be honest this time was no exception. The chairs that came with this set were absolutely hideous. I would say they looked like curtains that would have hung in my grandma's house, except that my Mimi had impeccable taste, so that would not be accurate. Let's just say they were ugly, and as much as I tried to see them “growing on me” eventually, at the end of the day I just couldn’t go through with the purchase as is. I then searched the store until I found some chairs that I liked AND that matched the table.

And now for the unveiling.....let me know what you think! Oh, and the rug is new too :)

Happy Birthday Josh!!

It's ALL downhill from here! One of my really good friends turned 27 today! As one of our friends said..."he only has 3 good years left!". Well, I don't know about that, but we sure tried to make Josh feel loved today.

Heather and I took him out to lunch at Souplantation, presented him with a gift, then promptly dropped him back off at work, where co-workers were waiting with cake and ice cream in hand.

Josh then joined Dave, Caiden and I for a birthday dinner, a quick round of pool with Dave, and a slight detour to buy bikes for Dave and I (for Christmas - shh!! don't tell us so it will be a surprise) :)

Hopefully, today was a memorable one...fun too, and memorable!! Happy Birthday to a great friend, and a LOUSY driver! hehe :)

Zoo Fun with the Katz

On Sunday, David, Caiden and I trekked down to the San Diego Zoo to have some fun with the Katz's. We arrived to greet my good friend Mandy, her husband Larry and their son Daniel - such a cutie! We didn't have a lot of time at the zoo, but we had a blast chatting, reminiscing, and enjoying the animals with our families. It was SO good to see Mands again...I miss her so much, and her family is like something out of a picture book...so cute! Here are a few pics of our adventures!

Golfing - Caiden style

This weekend Lance and Susan decided to go camping about 4 miles from our house. Since they were so close, they asked if they could take Caiden along. Of course, Caiden jumped at the opportunity. He had a blast. He went swimming, went on walks, sat around a campfire, and played miniature golf.

Dave and I joined them on Saturday to take in a round of miniature golf. Caiden was SO cute. On EACH hole he would take his ball, walk over to the hole, place his ball about 1 inch from the hole and then put it in. Of course he got a hole in one every time.

The funniest part came when I decided to partake in the festivities. As many of you might suspect, miniature golf is NOT one of my strong suits. Caiden must have thought so as well, for every time I hit the ball, (and it didn’t land anywhere close to the hole – which was about 99% of the time) Caiden would yell, “Mommy, I help” and scurry after my ball; pick it up, and proceed to golf Caiden-style (as if it bears repeating again, but that would be pick up the ball, jaunt to the hole, place ball 1 inch from the hole and then put said ball into the hole). He was so proud of himself, and so proud that he could help out his mama! We made a great team. Not to mention, that Caiden and I had the best scores!!! Ultimately it was either Dave or Lance that won…to be honest I didn’t keep score, so I have no idea.

You see, it’s not that I am a TERRIBLE miniature golf player. No, in fact I am sure that I would be quite good if it weren’t for the elements. It was COLD….SO COLD, and windy, AND it was raining…ok, maybe raining is a harsh word, but there were definitely droplets of water falling from the sky at regular intervals. So, you see if it weren’t for the sour conditions I may have been the best miniature golfer EVER! Well, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

A Fairy Tale Birthday

Yesterday marked a milestone for Caiden. Well, sort of. Yesterday was the first birthday party that Caiden was invited to by one of his friends. You see, the neighbor girl, Kasey turned 4 and invited Caiden to her "Fairytale themed" birthday party.

Caiden was a perfect angel. He brought Kasey a gift she loved (see the above picture); handed her the birthday gift and said "Happy Birthday". He posed for pictures with the birthday girl (as instructed by her parents), and sat patiently waiting for her to blow out the birthday candles (which is a small feat for Caiden - as he LOVES to blow out birthday candles). He even started his own rendition of the Happy Birthday song which made everyone do a collective "Ahhh...”

My son is the cutest. From what I've heard, this is the start of MANY, MANY parties as Pandora’s Box has now been opened. It's true too. One day after getting this bit of advice from my friend Josh, the neighbor kids all told me that their birthdays are within the next 4 weeks. Goodness, gracious! Well, at least I know he'll be a perfect angel! :)

Dave on the Rialto/Fontana Fire (KTLA News)

(as seen from left to right) Carlos Canizales, Mike Brimmer, Captain Don Trapp, David Bonney

Dave came home today, tired but excited from his day at work. Normally, this would be his day off, but 10 minutes before he was slated to get off work, his pager went off and the tones sounded.

Dave and his crew were quickly dispatched to the Rialto/Fontana fire. He said it got pretty harrowing, as the 35-40 mph winds pushed the fire quickly through the terrain. At one point, they tried to get in front of the fire to fight it, but the wind got the best of them and forced them to try an alternate method...albeit without their hose which was taken over by the fire.

Dave thought this was a pretty amazing fire - although he did not get any pictures (even though I specifically bought him a digital camera for his strike team bag, but I'm not saying a word). :) Good thing that KTLA news was there to help. They took the pictures posted here. It's a great picture of his crew, and it shows how high the flames got.

The next picture was a stack of pallets that caught on fire in an industrial yard. By the time the fire had swept through the pallet yard, Dave said there was nothing but inches of ash and nails.

Thank God that everyone came home safe and sound.



The helicopters flew right over them dropping fire retardant and water.

Like Father, Like Son - Pool Shark in Training

I have been home sick, and a bit under the weather. So has Caiden, but you would never know it. I was laying on the couch trying to get some rest, and was working REALLY hard to convince Caiden to do the same, and then I see my little man trying to play pool. I had to take this video...I couldn't help myself. He's just so cute.

Here's Caiden trying to play pool...just like Daddy!(Notice the cover is still on the pool table) :)

The Jeep Life - Living it up in city!

Caiden's a big hit in the neighborhood - all thanks to Papa Jim and Grandma Sue. All of the kid's in the neighborhood are thrilled with the Jeep that Caiden drives (well, drive is a relative term...he more less floors the gas and turns the steering wheel, but in no particular direction).

Some of the bigger kids were particularly helpful...trying to help Caiden steer and avoid the pitfalls and terrain (other cars and sidewalks). Mackenzie, the neighbor girl usually runs up and gets her "Bob the builder" computer, and uses it like a GPS, while Caiden and her drive the rough terrain. It was so cute.

When it was time to go in, all of the neighborhood kids gathered around the garage and waved and said goodbye as the door shut. One kid even laid on his belly, and waved until the garage door met the pavement.

Yeah, my kid's a rock star :P

The Incredible Shrinking Woman

I'm a bit like a weed...I know...what a way to start out a sentence, eh? But it's true. I grow with sunlight and under abnormal circumstances. For instance, I was always very short until the summer between my junior high and high school career. I shot up like a weed. It was RIDICULOUS! All of the boys were taller than me, and I constantly got those stupid jokes about, "How's the weather up there?” Seriously, who, other than short people, think that's even remotely funny? In high school, I was even called the "Jolly White Giant" (this was a two-pronged dig. 1) because my skin is whiter than snow...practically an albino and 2) because I was so tall).

Well, to be honest I never really wanted to be tall. People would always tell me that tall was beautiful, and that that's what set me apart from the other girls, or just wait...you will LOVE being tall.

But, I didn't want to be tall. I wanted to be 5'6 like all the other girls. The perfect height. You didn't have to shop for tall clothes - all the cute clothes are in the petite section anyway (being that I was between 5'10" and 5'11" I required tall clothes); the boys were always taller than you; and no one said stupid jokes about your height or said "Boy, "you're big" (and people wonder why I have a weight complex...hmm...I wonder).

Well, the strangest thing is happening. I'm actually shrinking...and not in the good way. *For those of you wondering, the good way would be width wise, whereas I am shrinking height wise*.

Well, I was standing in the shower with Dave a few months back (I know...too much information), and I actually looked up at him. I mean, I HAD to look up at him; I wasn't staring him in the eyes or the forehead, but actually had to turn my chin upwards. For those of you who know Dave he is my height (sort of - he slouches so he looks shorter). I thought it was strange, and even made the comment that I thought I was shrinking. Then later on that week (or month - who knows) some of the guys on my team at work started making fun of me (what's new). :) Somehow we got on a discussion of height, and I stated that I was 5'10 or 5'11, and they laughed. They even started looking for a tape measure. I stood next to my lead, who is about 5'8 or 5'9 and even HE looked taller than me (Sorry, Josh...I'm just making an observation...not a judgment). It's the craziest thing. I've heard that people shrink as they get older, but seriously...I'm ONLY 30, am I really supposed to shrink 2 inches or more? That's a little sudden. Maybe I should have bought into the whole "Got Milk" campaign ad or something. Not sure. All I know is that my pants drag on the ground now (very interesting sensation...never had that before), and I actually had the thought that I might need to either wear taller shoes or get my pants tailored. (See pictures above. Notice that I even ROLLED the pants).

To be honest I am not sure how I feel about getting shorter. I had come to peace with the fact that I'm tall, and now I think I'm having a bit of an identity crisis. I guess the saying is correct...you should be careful what you wish for because your wishes might just come true.