Love Livin' in HB

Last Saturday we were able to go to the beach as a family... Brandon had been working so much during the week and needed some family time! We decided to go to here in HB and we had a blast. It was a beautiful day... and the water was actually refreshing instead of freezing like normal. I even got in the water which is REALLY not normal! Brandon was all smiles because the kids officially learned to boogie board and Nate had his first experience in the water! He loved it! He even through a fit when Brandon tried to bring him in for lunch. We had so much fun with the kids and some friends who joined us! Makes us appreciate living here in HB!

Brandon and Nater!

Taylor and Nate on the beach.

Jack catchin' some air thanks to Dad.

Jack on his own and Dad all smiles!

My Birthday Week...

This was definitely a birthday not to complain about... yes, I turned 35, but it was so much fun and I don't feel 35 so who cares!! I feel very blessed at this point in my life. I have a wonderful husband, 3 super great kids and friends that are so sweet and caring and I just love them all! My birthday started the day before the actual date which was the 23rd of June. The Briscoe family had a party for me at my brother-in-law's home with yummy food and dessert. Then on my birthday, my mother-in-law Nancy, said she wanted to take me out to breakfast... so I got ready as fast as I could because she said she had to be back to help my father-in-law and off we went. Well... when we got to the resturant, I see all these people with their menus covering their faces. They were my good friends pictured below... Holly, Natalie, Jen, Amber (with baby Caden) and Kelly. I was so surprised!! Nancy's not in the picture because she had to leave early. Then I had so many phone calls this year to wish me a Happy B-day from friends and family... I love them all!!

But my day didn't end there. My hubby took me out to dinner that night at BJ's and we didn't even get a pazookie - he offered and I said "NO, I'm trying to be good." Then on Wednesday some more of my friends met up at Pei Wei for dinner and a little chit-chat, then we had Pinkberry (frozen yogart with fresh fruit for those who don't know) for dessert which is now one of my new loves! I'm so sad because I forgot to take a picture of all of us before we left, but I did get one of me and Jen enjoying our dessert. (And don't you just love my new Roxy purse I

received from Kelly and Amber - LOVE IT!)

Taylor's Last Day of 2nd Grade...

Whew... what a year it was for Taylor. It started off a little difficult for her teacher. She had 3 Taylor's (2 with the last name starting with a B) and also two Blake L's in her class. Pretty cruel of whomever put that class together... but it worked out ok. Taylor was known as Taylor Ann all year so her teacher could keep them all straight. Her teacher was AWESOME and Taylor did wonderful this year! She had a few issues with math in 1st, but triumphed in 2nd. It’s hard to believe I will have a child in 3rd grade next year and I’m really emotional these days about how big my kids are getting. (But that’s another issue to post for a later date!) I’m so proud of Taylor and all she accomplished this year! Good job Taylor!

Below are some pictures of the end of the year party for her class! They had sack races, water balloons tosses, and lots of fun stuff.

This picture below is Taylor's teacher tossing water balloons at the class after the game was over because if was so hot!!!


Also, for Taylor’s last day of school, her Grandma Briscoe got her tickets for them to see High School Musical at the OC Performing Arts Center. They went with Alex and Hannah McDonald and their Grandma McDonald. They had a blast. Below is a picture of Taylor and her Grandma all dressed and ready to go!!

Jack's Last Day of Preschool...

But he still has one more year before Kindergarten because he misses the cutoff of Dec 1 just like Taylor. Doesn’t matter to us… cause he is growing up so fast anyways! He had such a great experience in Preschool this year! His teacher was AWESOME! What I love about his teacher and the HB District Preschool is the academic aspect of the program. It’s fabulous… Jack already knows all of his ABC’s (upper and lowercase), counts to 30 and can write his name. I’m so proud of him! Below is a picture of Jack and his teacher Ms. Cindy and also of him and his buddy Chase. They had a pizza party for their last day and it’s was fun (and a little teary eyed for mom).

Happy Daddy's Day

I had to post a couple of gifts the kids gave to Brandon. They love their Dad so much. He is the fun one in the family... always wrestling with the boys and making Taylor laugh out loud! He definitely acts like a big kid but is such a great Dad! I love him so much and feel very blessed to have him as a husband and dad to our kids! Happy Father's Day Brandon - we love you!

Jack's Present - I love the 6 months old and 50 ft tall.

One of Taylor's present - I couldn't scan them all, but I love the last sentence! She came up with these on her on.

And I love this picture below because this is a Dad at his finest moment - asleep with his boy and his dog. (Jack was about 3 months old)

Happy Father's Day Dad

I just wanted to wish my Dad a Happy Father's Day - I wish I could do it in person and give you a big fat hug and kiss! I love you Dad! I miss you so much and can't wait to see you and Mom next month! I'm so sad I don't have a picture to post - all my pictures are in storage! But I just have to let you know you are the BEST and I cherish the memories and moments we have together! Love you!!

Father/Sons Bonding...

Brandon, Brian (his brother) and Larry (his dad) went on a pretty exciting outing - Boar Hunting at a family friend’s home, Don Jones, in Tehachapi, which is about 3 hours from us. It is really beautiful up there... lots of mountains with trees and wildlife. Cooper (my younger brother-in-law) was supposed to have joined the boys, but they had to change their trip to the middle of the week instead of the weekend, so it didn’t work out for Coop. So anyways… they had a blast. The first day, they didn’t have much luck with shooting boars, but they had a great time squirrel hunting. (I have a hard time thinking of those little squirrels, but they say they shoot them for coyote food, so I feel a little better about that.) The second day was much better, Larry and Don shot one boar, but it got away. Brandon and Brian accidently walked up on three sows (female pigs) and ended up shooting two of them from about 10 feet away. Brandon talked of using his big pig knife if he got the opportunity, but quickly changed his mind when one of them decided to charge him! In the end they got their pigs (one is pictured above and Brandon's shirt is off because it was covered in pig blood - sorry readers for the graphic details). They gutted and skinned the two sows and brought home lots of meat, which will turn into sausage for future use. They really had a great time and Larry was beaming with pride when he returned home with his boys.

Mother's Intuition I Didn't Listen To and....

Taylor REALLY didn't want me to blog this. But since this is my journal and I don't want to forget about these small happenings and why I need to listen to that still small voice we all hear time to time. So here is what happened... Taylor was asked over for a play date last Friday at a friend’s house to swim. My first instinct was "No" which I thought at first it was because she had a soccer/pool party in just a few hours and I knew she would be swimming there too. But I went against what my gut told me and let her go. They haven't had a play date in awhile and they call quite often. Anyways... about an hour later, I get a call from the Dad saying "Tragedy has struck again" - meaning this isn't the first time she's been hurt at their house. She broke her finger at their last year playing with a pitch-back machine. We had no Health Insurance at the time. So my heart sunk not knowing what he was going to tell me. He said they were playing outside, they decided to come in and they were running and she tripped on the sliding glass doorframe… fell on her FACE and broke off a piece of her front tooth - YIKES! Of course I can hear her screaming in the background and he said he's bringing her home. Needless to say she was still freaking out when she got home and it was worse than I thought. And remember, she had a end of the year soccer party to go to and she was so worried everyone was going to laugh at her because of her tooth! So finally I calmed her down to take a look. She wears a retainer and it cut the gum behind her tooth so it looked pretty bad. So I quickly called my friend Amber who is a dental hygienist and her brother is our dentist. I told her what happened and she came over to look at it to make sure we didn't need to go to the ER. She then called her brother who works 1 Saturday a month and luckily this past Saturday was the one - THANK GOODNESS! We went to his office and he fixed it within an hour and said it doesn't look like the root is damaged. It looks awesome! Thanks Amber and Dr. Miller! So what is the lesson here – LISTEN TO THAT STILL SMALL VOICE. Even if it’s about a play date!! (picture above is the before shot)

5 Things We Are Grateful For...

Ok - so I've got to get better at this weekly posting... I completely forgot last week so we are doubling up!!

Brandon is grateful for our kids... they were so much fun the week before last, we just had a blast with them. This week he is grateful for our family and friends that supported our Grand Re-opening at our shop. Check out www.twistedtinmotorsports.com/.

Michele is grateful for getting through the week before without any injuries with the kids. This week I am grateful for the sweet prayers I hear the kids say during breakfast, dinner and bedtime... I just cherish their sweet thoughts. Nate just starting (at least trying) to sing I Am A Child of God that we sing before bedtime everynight and I just love it!

Taylor is grateful for spending time with Daddy so much - he has been home so much more and she is enjoying every moment with him. This week she is grateful she was able to go to the Twisted Tin Re-opening and to see friends there.

Jack is grateful he could see his friends at school the week before. This week he is grateful to spend time with his family and dance at the Twisted Tin Re-Opening with the band that played there... he has some good moves!!

Nate is grateful for la-la (that means his drink) this week and his sucker that is all over his shirt in the picture below!

Weekly Fishing with Grandpa

This was an exciting trip to the HB pier this week for Jack and Grandpa Briscoe. Jack caught a guitar shark which has spikey things on it's back and Grandpa caught a seagull (don't ask - he wasn't very happy)! They really look forward to their little weekly outing and Nate is waiting patiently to go when he gets older (not really - he cries everytime). When Grandpa Lewis comes out in July, Nate will get to go with them! Two little boys and two Grandpas to help!

No Self Control over Sweets

I'm blogging right now because my boys are napping, my daughter is still in school and instead of doing the laundry or something else NOT fun, I really want to sit in front of the TV and eat chocolate chips cookies that Taylor just HAD to have at Target. In other words... I have no self control right now. I really want those cookies but I promised myself that TODAY would be the day I started Weight Watchers over again. Since our anniversary trip, I have not done so well at sticking to WW and I'm really upset about that because I had lost 8 pounds in 2 1/2 weeks and was feeling great. So here I go again... wish me luck!!

A Day in San Onofre...

On Saturday, we went down to San Onofre with a bunch of families... it was sooo much fun! I have to admit I was a little worried at first because when we left Huntington, the skies were gray with a little sun poking out and it was 68 degrees. Not really beach weather, but it ended up being beautiful blue skies and very sunny. It was about 78 degrees and a little windy but very nice. In fact, we were all fooled by the coolness thinking the sun would not be very strong so most of us (especially Brandon) got fried by the sun! The kids had so much fun... they played all day and the adults surfed, relaxed and played a little bocce ball. Below are some pictures of our day...

Two little cuties... Jack & Hannah

Two more little cuties -

Nate and Mika... playing and hugging (love that cute sandy bum)

Dad and Taylor on their way surfing

Brandon, Taylor, Patrick and Alex

Brandon and Taylor waiting for the perfect wave

Our future surfer... for now he'll stick to the boogie board!

Jeff Jensen... playing with the kids. They loved him!

Alex and Taylor posing and playing

Friends soaking up the sun... Jen, Holly, Stephanie, Jen and Amber