Happiness

 All of us, with Doug taking the picture  Doug and Sheelah and the kids  Bergonvia My Uncle and Aunt- Doug and Sheelah (on my Dad's side) live two hours away in Carpinteria, CA near Santa Barbara. Doug is a chiropractor and Sheelah is an acupuncturist. They have lived in the same home for over 25 years and we love to go visit them and visit the beach too!  This past weekend we took the kids and had a blast! Even though it was cloudy, we walked along the bluffs, checked out the tide pools and the place in the rocks where the natural tar bubbles up. It is the second biggest spot in California for tar deposits besides the La Brea Tar Pits. After we got back and rested awhile, Doug took me out for a drive on his Harley and it was the first time I had ever been on a motorcycle. He has some super cool heated jackets and it wasn't too cold or windy at all. I had a blast and I told Josh he can get a motorcycle anytime! For dinner we had a BBQ Santa Ma...

For Memorial Day we decided to take a trip to the beach. We live in sunny California and feel that we pay for the good weather, so we like to get out and enjoy it. Plus, we love going to the beach!  We arrived around 3:30, played in the sand and a little in the water (it was super cold) and then started a fire pit an hour later. You dig a hole in the sand, build your fire inside the hole and you've got a lovely place to keep you warm and cook your dinner. Good thing too because it's chilly!  It was a lot of fun! We found a perfect spot for our fire pit and had some great hot dogs and roasted corn. To roast it, we just wrapped the ears of corn in tinfoil and placed them near the hot coals for ten minutes. Perfection! So warm and yummy! The kids were impressed!

It's been a wild and crazy year this year! We moved from Lehi, Utah to Paso Robles, CA and jumped into the school system with all ten feet- four of my kids and my husband too!  Elizabeth blew 9th grade away! She took the clarinet section by storm in the band and tried her hand at Honors English, French, Math and History. Way to rock 9th grade, Elizabeth! Ethan and Jonah took 8th grade in Lewis Middle School by storm too! They started in all regular classes and soon switched to all honors classes. They got almost straight A's and simply rocked it! Asher did amazing in 6th grade at the middle school- qualifying for GATE next year.  Josh was the most impressive of them all. Never having had any formal training in teaching, he taught 3 classes of 7th grade math to 12-13 yr olds who struggle with math, as well as a 6th grade class and a remedial class. Every day he showed up, even though he wasn't sure how the kids would act that day. He overcame struggles and c...