Hangin out Desert style

A few weekends ago we went to visit my Brother Nathan in Palm desert- The kids were so excited !  The desert was only about an hour away - I rarely get to see my brother and niece Emily since they lived so far away before-

My brother is engaged to an awesome woman, Kay - She has a adorable  2 year old Daughter Evie - They all make the cutest family !!! Congrats guys!

I felt like I was on vacation with the palm trees and the warm air it was so nice to be there on a winters day- we took the troop to the Living Desert zoo- the boys loved it so much- The zoo has all plants and animals for deserts all over the world - Nathan's buddy worked there and took us "back stage" to see some cool stuff up close-  Thanks Nathan and and family for having us down !! we love you!

Going, Going, Gone....

So we did it!!! We moved !!  Thanks to all of our strong friends for coming over and helping us!!! We love you guys!!!!  and miss you already!

The drive was great the baby was perfect and slept most of the 8 and 1/2 hour drive!

It doesn't normally take that long to drive but Jeremy was in a huge semi moving truck with the big boys and I was pulling a trailer with our truck it was slow! :) but we were all so excited so it seemed to go by quick-

If you have never driven through california you are missing out.... we went from the ocean to the  farm lands into red woods into green rolling hills and then we drove by the most beautiful cherry trees just blossoming- they were super pink and pretty-  

We are now just getting settled here- since we are living in Jeremy's Grandma's house all our neighbors have already come over to meet us-  everyone wants to tell us how much they love Charlotte and miss her- And everyone is telling me I cant kill her rose bushes!  Trey started school ( it is just the next block over) and loves it-  and Vance will be going to preschool there soon too!   I am really enjoying being close to everything!  Ummm living near a Target rocks my rocks!!  

We miss all of our friends and family! and hope ya'll come visit us soon!

The Last Supper

One of our last nights in Santa Cruz we spent over at our friends Tim and Linda's house they made us a radical meal thanks guys!!!! It was great cuz I packed all of our silverware and dishes:) Andrew and Jacqui were there too... of course I don't have to tell anyone who reads this blog about the connection between River and Andrew... they are ... very close:) as I looked at the pictures I took that night it looked like they were the only two people there so I cut down the pics to just two:)  

The next day was Treyton's last day at school his whole class  sat around him and asked him questions about him moving and they also wrote a little book about how much they will miss him... he had such an awesome class and teacher this year we were so sad to leave!

(his best pal Jaden)

(the Sophias are the coolest girls around!!!)

Baby Boy

(inside is River Bowie 9 months)

 

It was a year ago that this little guy was just in my belly and now he is out yelling and walking and laughing- I can never explain how much I love this little man- although he was supposed to be a girl.... :) j/k !!!! He makes me smile everyday no matter how hard things get- He is our family's little red haired mascot- Jeremy jokes that he is my boyfriend.. but he really is:) he is my lil partner and I don't know what I would be without him-  I am grateful everyday  for all the boys in my life   :0) 

River 4 days old)

On Rivers's birthday we went out to dinner with our  friends Niles, Merrissa and Emily- 

we had such a great time! Thanks so much for celebrating with us!!

Blame it on the Rain....

Hey ya'll ... with everyone being sick and the move only a little bit away we had to also have Rivers 1st birthday party- We tried to be Eco Friendly this year and had a "Green" theme- That means little or no waste and using recycled products~ We did a good job with it !

(We had everyone plant lil gardens to take home) 

When I planned the party I knew there was a chance it would rain but I thought... hey a little rain wont hurt us at the park.. we're not made of sugar we won't melt~ Little did I know that the day of the party would be the heaviest rain storm we would get all winter! So long story long... we moved the party from the park to my house.... for those who dont know how small my house is just imagine the a  matchbox... and now put 30 people in it:)  it was cozy! It ended up working out it:)  - I looked around at the all the people who came to celebrate with us  - We felt so loved! 

So... of course the rain was bad and the house was small and River at the peek of the party... fell asleep~ oh well! When he finally woke up he wasn't to excited to see a billion people staring at him singing happy birthday and me shoving cake in his face:)  but isn't this just how a first birthday is supposed to go?! 

Over all it was a success~  Our friends and family are so great, we are so lucky to have all of you.. even though you all made a point to tell us you think we are making a mistake by moving:) We still love you! We will visit we promise!!

Thanks to Everyone who came!!! Thanks to my Mom, Nicole and Phil for all your help!!!

We have been busy!!!!

Well here is anther wrap up since I am such a loser and can't sit and post weekly-

gosh where do I begin...  we had a great New Years.. my mama came and spent a week with us- I didn't want her to leave it was so much fun- we had absolutely nothing to do and we loved every minute of it!

 River changes his mind about the sand everytime we go.. this time he didnt care for it too much:)

River is walking!  well... he walks, well..... he takes numerous steps gets really excited cuz the whole family claps and sceams and then he sits down- But he will get from point A to point B and we are so proud- 

We are movin!!! We will be heading to Upland (Southern Cali) hopefully the last week of Feb~ This is a big move for our lil fam, although we will miss our wonderful friends and beautiful family , we are really excited for the adventure! We are planning Rivers 1st birthday party for Feb 15 here in Santa Cruz so that might be the last time we will see some of you for a while- We will however be spending a lot of time this summer up in Tahoe for various reasons, my 10 year high school reunion (yikes) and my best pal Aly's wedding and a trip just cuz i will miss my mommy;) we promise to keep in touch with everyone (Trey would love some pen pals!) and I will update our blog so check it for Young family news- and if you are heading down our way let us know... we will have room for sleep over guests! We send our love to all of you this wonderful New Year! 

It's the reason for the season~

Merry christmas!!!!!! This post is wayyyy late but we have been busy! The kids had a wonderful christmas! On Christmas Eve Jeremy told the boys about Joseph,Mary and Lil baby Jesus~  the kids wanted to know more about Christmas ~ Man Trey has lots of questions and wants lots of answers~  He wanted to know  where Santa fits in all of this.... I ended up looking on the computer the next day for some answers about that! what did we do with out the internet!? We had a quiet christmas morning highlighted with Santa coming and bringin Vance a Fish.... ( Vance named him Ninja Turtle) that for his own safety lives in the kitchen!     

Later that day we had dinner with Jeremys family, it was awesome of course~ I missed not going to Tahoe and being in the snow but it was so nice being with Family here:)

Thanks Martins, Papa and Tutu and  Auntie Andra and Uncle Claudio for the thoughtful gifs!!!!

Let's wrap it all up with a bow...

Hey ya'll  

December has been a busy month but still I cant believe it is christmas time already! So to wrap it all up in one post  here's just a few things we have been up to...

 River is still sleeping a ton;)

Tutu (or Mary) had a birthday and we all got to share it with her! Happy b-day Tutu! 

 River Loves  Luke

 

I still love Hannah:)

Our Good Friend Niles finally turned 30! his parents threw him a great surprise party

 We left the big boys with Papa And Tutu thanks guys for babysitting!

 

wow what a surprise Andrew is holding River

 Rivey loves to party 

 but he likes to sleep more:) thanks Jacqui you are the best baby putter to sleeper:)

It was Megans birthday! and Jeremy watched to boys so I could go out and have a fun time in Oak town!!! 

 Our lil Hannah was in a play Gold Dust or Bust and she killed it!!! Good job Hannah!!!

 Trey had his school christmas party ~ those kids are so cute! And in Elementary school tradition, He made a ginger bread house... 

we brought it home and every time I look at it on the counter it is missing candy.. and I can't find Vance..hmmmm -      

So to all Our friends and family have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

It has happened Treyton finally lost the other top tooth! It was loose for like three months~ I begged him to play with it and wiggle it cuz I didn't want his snaggle tooth in my christmas pictures!  ( am so mean:)  We even bribed him with a slurpee if he got it out on Sunday~  well Vance would get one too.... so that made Vance want to take out Trey's tooth out himself... got to love lil boys~ After some time  Trey finally just yanked it out ~ Now you have to hear him try and say S's sooo funny~ 

*******So Folks I am sending out Christmas cards soon and would love everyones addresses- Email them to santacruzmommy@yahoo.com  Happy Holidays!