Catching up...

I was looking through old posts and realized that I missed a few things this year.  Christopher turned 12 this year.  He is officially a Boy Scout.  He went to scout encampment this year and had a great time.  He did archery, rifle shooting, rode a zip line and hiked. 

Valerie turned 20 in June.  She was living away from our home for a while, but is back now for a few months. Our garage is full of her furniture right now, but I like having everyone home again.  The biggest problem is that we have 4 dogs...they take up A LOT of space in what I thought was a home sufficient for our needs!

This one is Precious...she's 10 months old...she eats everything!  My shoes, the walls, the furniture and she digs really deep holes.

This is Zeus...he is 3 weeks younger than Precious and very smart.  He thinks he's the alpha male, but actually he is third in line behind Toby and Jax.  He doesn't eat as much as Precious...I think he just gets into trouble for lack of other things to do.

This summer we also had a visit from my mom.  We went for sushi...Chris is really the only one who eats actual sushi.  This is my mom's version of using chop sticks.

Gabe got stitches this summer...the day my brother and his wife came to visit.  Four stitches on the back of his leg from a knife carelessly thrown away by his mother :(   He had a great doctor and actually liked the whole experience.

All caught up.  Now we're into school full swing.  Christopher is playing soccer.  Valerie is working a new job learning to be a bartender.  Yvette is making her way through the first weeks of her freshman year and Gabe is happy to have the same teachers and classmates as last year.  And Chris and I are just trying to keep up with it all!

Gabe's Birthday



Gabe at 11




Gabe at 3



And they just keep growing....
Last week Gabriel turned 11.  The picture with the crown was his 3rd birthday.  They made the crown for him at preschool.  I think that was the year Grandma Rosie gave him the mechanical spider.  This year he wanted a remote control helicopter.  Some things never change.  Gabe has had a great year.  He's moved into 11 year old Boy Scouts and is very excited.  He has grown so much this year.  He is 5' tall and wears a size 10 shoe (at last measure).  He is very funny and is really coming into his own.  He loves all things Pokemon and video games.  He also loves science and on the last AIMS test he scored excelled in Math, which I am told is difficult to do.  His brother is still his best friend.  He is a big help to his parents around the house and he loves to tease his dad so he can wrestle with him.  We love you, Gabe!

We went to Kona Grill for his birthday.  Here's a great picture of the kids sharing the red velvet cake they gave him...it's that HUGE white thing in front of Gabe.

Another school year

We made it through another summer.  This year Yvette started high school.  She just got moved into Honors Language and she is very excited about that.  Christopher is in 7th grade and is learning to play the trombone. I'm very excited about that.  Gabe is in 5th grade with the same teachers as last year and he is very excited about that.  Valerie starts school in about a week...We are proud of all our kids.

The Arrow of Light

One of the first Cub Scout meetings Gabe went to was Pack Meeting and someone was getting their Arrow of Light.  Gabe's eyes got so big when he saw all the awards the boy had received.  During Scouts he went after every belt loop and pin he could get and on Wednesday he received his own Arrow of Light Award.  He was so excited as he got on his new uniform.  He said "I can't believe I'm finally a Boy Scout!".  He was very excited and we are very proud of his accomplishment.

Summer 2010

We had a busy summer.  My mom came to visit for a month and them my brother, Billy and his wife, Barbara came out for the weekend.  It was so fun to have family here.  Especially my brother...he didn't really know my kids.  Valerie had spent time with them when she was eight, but they only met the younger kids once for a few hours.  It was great to have them in our home. Barbara and I made sauce and pizza like my grandmother used to make and we got $3 cupcakes at the Coffee Shop (they won on the Cupcake Wars show).  It was really fun and very relaxing just hanging around the house.

but she's lonely,,,

Precious has been driving Toby (14 yr old dog) a little crazy, so Chris thought she needed a playmate. Actually, when we got Precious he wanted to get 2 puppies and I said "no way".

But we found a rottie/lab mix and so now we have Zeus. He's six weeks old and very cute. He has a tail and some white markings, but other than that they look very much alike. They love to wrestle and he is very fiesty. So now we have as many dogs living here as we have kids, but somehow the work load isn't distributed that way...hmmm....some things never change.

New addition...

Chris has always wanted a big dog...so here is his new puppy. Her name is Precious and she's a full bred rottweiler (both parents are 1/2 american rot and 1/2 german rot). She really is cute and is getting along well with all the kids and dogs.