Enjoying some nice weather

The last couple of days have been really nice here so we spent some time outside hanging out.  Unfortunately, with gas prices creeping higher and higher and two camping trips around the corner we are not getting out too much till we actually go camping.  Gas was at $4.33/gallon today, so not fair!  My mom told me it is only $3.03/gallon in Cheyenne, again, not fair! 

Just a few random pictures of this and that.....

Micah with his worms of some sort he dug up.

All Noah needs to be entertained, cars and dirt/mud.

Working on "making" mud.

After play cuddling.  Tim isn't a big fan of pictures, can you tell?

We leave on St. Patty's day to go to Lake Casitas for our first camping trip of the year.  So I will be updating the blog with all that fun stuff once we are back.  Today Tim asked each boy individually if they would rather go to Disneyland or camping over Spring Break and they picked camping.  Today Tim booked us a spot for four nights outside Yosemite, definitely excited for that trip.

Texas Trip

Tim left for NCOA, (non commissioned officer academy) on January 3rd and graduated February 14th.  The boys and I were able to fly out and see him graduate and spend a few days sightseeing, we went to the Alamo and river walk.  I ended up forgetting to put the battery camera back in so we have no pictures of those two places.  It was only 38 degrees out so I am not convinced the pictures would have even been worth looking at, we were all freezing!

Tim's NCOA class.

Graduation day.

Final retreat.



Us with Chief Gaylord.  He was Chief Master Sergent of the AF.

Getting some energy out of the boys at a rest stop.



Poppa Dillen worked on the engineering team for this plane.

  

Anniversary Surprise!

Hotel Del Coronado all lit up for Christmas.

Tim and I loved the look of this building, not sure what it is though.

Today is Tim and I's 7th anniversary and he was able to surprise me with a dinner cruise on the Hornblower in San Diego while we were there for Christmas.  Tim is a really good planner and this is the third time he had something very nice planned for us since we have been married.  He is very thoughtful and takes a lot of time to get the details sorted out, I very much appreciate him for that.

Me and my handsome man!

On the dinner cruise you make your way around the bay, go under the Coronado Bridge, by the ship yards and then end back by the Midway.  It was three hours long and we were served a salad, main dinner course and yummy dessert.  There was a DJ and I was able to get Tim to dance two times:o). The boys stayed with Tim's parents and it was within walking distance of Tim's parents condo.  It was a great night and I am thankful for the memories.

Biking boys...

The boys before bikes, hehe.

The bike the boys were sharing for a bit.

Micah on his bike that fits him better.

Micah and his one-handed riding.

Over Christmas break Noah learned how to ride Micah's old bike with training wheels and Micah learned to ride without training wheels.  They are loving it!  Both of them were into riding those skinny little Razor scooters, which I think helped them both with their balance abilities once they the decided to get on the bikes.  The timing was perfect because Tim was picked to fill an alternate spot for NCOA down in Texas for six weeks so the boys and I will be biking around a lot.  Micah goes wild, it's like he's been on a bike for a year already; going fast, riding with one hand and leaning turns.  They both got a bunch of new DS games for Christmas but luckily the bikes break them away from those darn things!

Christmas

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas this year!  We had a great one and we are blessed more and more each year. 

Tim went ahead and took some leave this year so we decided to find something to do with our time off from school and work.  Generally we do not do all that much over the Christmas break and it can get a little boring so we are down in San Diego visiting family for a bit.  I am posting a bunch of pictures of what we have done so far.  I got a new camera for Christmas and our annual picture in front of our tree is on the old camera at home.

On a side note, Micah learned to ride his bike without training wheels and Noah learn to ride the same bike with training wheels.  Sharing one bike has caused a few not so wonderful moments between the boys.

Uncle Tim and Makenna

I love how Makenna and Micah are looking at each other.

The Feast

Travis flew in from Denver and surprised everyone!

Micah showing an interest in learning guitar.

Makenna doing what she does best, being adorable!

Our little family.

Siblings.

Tim's sister Megan, Makenna and her husband Tim.

Group picture.



Uncle Travis with the little ones.



Pouting.....

WooHoo!!!

Cool buildings.

Biking in the city.

Scooting in the city.

Our Self-Manager!

Today Micah man was awarded the Self-Manager award at his school.  Micah has been lucky to have great teachers since he started his elementary career.  The teacher he has this year has really motivated him in a lot of different ways and they have been a great fit for one another.  Tim and I remind ourselves often that in 46 other states Micah would be a Kindergartner, so he really is doing well for being the youngest of 21 in his first grade class.  We are proud of him and today it was apparent that he is pretty proud of himself as well. 

Good job buddy!

All smiles!

O Christmas tree

You cannot beat putting up Christmas lights in 75 degree sunshine!  We really better enjoy doing that while we can because our time to live in a cold, snowy climate is right around the corner.

Probably not our best parenting day.

Tim and I both are kind of picky about the type of Christmas trees we like.  We knew there was a place a little North of us where you can go as a family and cut down your own Christmas tree.  We visited the Christmas tree farm and decided we did not like any of the trees or the prices, yikes!  The boys enjoyed running around and saying that they wanted EVERY tree we passed!  They are both at such fun ages.

The boys at the tree farm.  My little lumberjacks!

Afterward, we decided to go back to the spot we bought our tree the last several years, it is really cool because you can tell the couple that work there that you are open to an "economy tree", meaning it will more then likely have a bare spot somewhere.  That side then gets put in the corner in our house and you get your tree for a fraction of the price.  This next picture really has nothing to do with our tree other then it is the road we took to get from Santa Maria to Lompoc, it is a short-cut if you will.  I had to take a picture at the top and post it on here because my mom would not be a fan of this road, it is steep with hairpins turns and drop offs with no guard rails.

Atop Harris Grade Road, unfortunately it was a hazy day.

The finished product.