Summer is here

George took the boys to visit the bike track. He used to ride here occasionally, but it's been awhile. We haven't left the house much the last few years. As my friend Dawnielle put it, we've 'hunkered down' and just been busy trying to stay sane with these three little guys. Slowly we're branching out of our nest. The boys will soon be riding on this track. Vincent was running around and around the track while Daniel climbed the berms. Gavin chased them wide-eyed, always trying to keep up.
Dominic has the coolest wagon. The boys all got to ride in it around the picnic area, up and down the hill, being pulled by their uncles or each other.

Daniel was determined to climb this tree at the lake where we BBQ'd this weekend with Megan, Brian, Dominic, Tracy & Paul. It was a tricky one, so he kept trying and trying, not wanting a boost. After seeing his mom climb up he became really determined. I jumped out of the tree and he says: "you're a powerful woman." He climbed really high after that.
I just downloaded the pictures from my phone. This was Vincent's birthday date at Chuck E Cheese. He ate that entire pizza.

A New Look

Here is the new look. I've recently been reading and learning a bunch in an effort to improve the quality of the portraits I create. Here is a look at the new backdrop and the cuties who cooperated with my trial run.

If you're interested in scheduling a photo shoot, please click here for more info.

I also have a photo blog which I attempt to keep updated with recent projects. I'm much better at updating this one, but the link is on the right if you are interested.

Vincent Turns 3

Vincent turned three last week! He's getting so big, I can hardly believe my eyes. He had a really fun birthday, celebrating with the family. Every gift was opened with such excitement. He's very enthusiastic about toys, especially Lightning McQueen, Buzz Lightyear, bubbles and baseball stuff.
This is our new, birthday tradition- special birthday cereal. It's a hit. I know it's pretty lame compared to the strawberries and whipped cream pancakes we had every birthday when I was growing up, but the boys are happy. Maybe I'll get it together next year. Sugar cereals are funny, the worse they are for you, the more they advertise the VITAMINS on the front of the box. Hmm, only 98 grams of high fructose corn syrup to go with it.
Setting up for the birthday party. We set the bowl of candy out just to temp Gavin. An exercise in self-control. He walks around on his tip toes a lot which I love. Gavin is now 18 months old. He's a man of few words. He says: "ple" for apple, "Ju" for anything to drink, and "up" to get up in my arms. "Bubble, Mom, Dad, Hi and Ball" are also in his vocabulary, but most of the time he stubbornly refuses to use words and prefers a couple of signs- more and all done.
At his 18 month check up, he weighed 23lb 13oz. which is 22%. He's 33 1/4" tall (21%) and his head circumference is 19 1/4" (82%)- he takes after his dad, there's lots of brains in there.
Daniel and Gavin enjoyed helping Vincent open up his gifts. They were opened as guests arrived this year which was fun because he got to be all excited and play with each one for awhile before opening the next thing.
Vincent hits a pretty good line drive consistently off of his new t-ball set. He throws well too, we just need to get him to open his eyes when trying to catch. Daniel and Vincent also got baseball gloves for the occasion. It will be fun when they can get a game of catch going with each other.
At Vincent's 3 year check up, he weighed in at 36lbs (87%) and 38" tall (60%).


This looks pretty dangerous, but we made it through practice, I mean the party, without any serious batting mishaps.

Dad and Grandpa on the grills.

Raena is such a good cousin. Melody turned 7 this week too and it was fun seeing how grown up and helpful she is with her cousins. Congratulations on graduating from 8th grade Raena!

Beautiful Faye

All Daniel needs for a good party is a bucket of ice. This kept him busy for a couple hours. Eating it, throwing it, sticking ice in the bottle of bubbles, standing in it. What could be more fun?

Biola Graduation

Jessica graduated from Biola University this weekend. We are so proud of her. It was so much fun being back at my alma mater. This have changed a lot since I graduated 12 years ago. The campus looks totally different now that they've added a bunch of new buildings including a library, a couple huge dorms, a new business building and a gym expansion. It didn't seem like that long ago that I was in college until someone asked if I was Jessica's mother! Vincent and watched most of the ceremony from here while George watched the other two until it was Jessica's turn to walk. Jess arranged a whole bag of goodies to keep all the boys entertained during the commencement. The boys were really excited about that.
After the graduation the whole family went to Jessica's house which she shared with SEVEN other girls this year. We ate lunch, met her roommates and their parents and checked out her living arrangements. After lunch, we hit the road with all three boys and headed down the coast to meet up with old friends. They had a beach BBQ for us at San Onofre where we used to hang out and surf in the old days. The Memorial weekend traffic on the way down was torture after driving 7 hours the day before. The 45 min drive took two hours while Gavin cried most of the way. Ugh. But once we got there, all that stress melted away as we played at the beach with our old friends. The boys LOVED it. Daniel could hardly contain himself playing in the waves, Gavin and Vincent had fun playing with tractors and shovels in the sand. The weather was perfect. George surfed for the first time in about 5 years. My legs saw the sun for the second time in about four years. We were having too much fun relaxing to take any pictures, but it was a wonderful blast from the past. The main difference was that the kids outnumbered the adults. I think we had 12 adults and 13 kids there. It makes me want to go back to OC more often. That was the boy's first time really playing at the beach.

Daniel sees an opportunity in every tree, he scouts them out deciding which one to climb. I love that he climbed this one in his bare feet. I rarely wore shoes as a kid so this reminds me of me.

While George, Vincent and Gavin took a Sunday afternoon nap, Daniel and I toured Biola with Auntie Jessica. Daniel was so excited to "go to college". I kept telling him we were here and he kept insisting that he wanted to go "inside college". We better enroll him.

Jess and Daniel under the bells at Biola.

Two of my biggest accomplishments...as a senior I was captain of the Biola volleyball team, we finished second at the NAIA national championships. We visited the gym where I spent so many of my college days, blood, sweat and tears. I loved it and miss it.

Happy Birthday Papa Dan! The kids made out pretty good at grandpa's birthday party.