Happenings.....

Francis and I forgot to celebrate our anniversary so 3 weeks later we finally found the time to go out for a delicious dinner at Flemmings. Seriously, I had the best lobster mac n cheese EVER!

 I met up for a girl's day with my good friends from high school and we had a nice lunch and headed over to watch a chick flick. 

 Kali got her hair done professionally for the first time & looks SO grown up! She will be a teenager on May 22nd!

 There is a teacher walkout right now so no sub jobs for me and no school for the kids. Kai went to a soccer camp for one of the days.

 some of his teammates were there and they had a good time. Kali went to wet n wild with a friend that day too.

 Kora and I went to Costco and watched the boys for a little bit.

 Kora has been LOVING her soccer season! She scored a goal in each of her last two games. She is a great defender and is not afraid to knock a person off the ball. We are so proud of her.

 And, last but not least.,,,,,,Francis' soccer team won the SUASL (Scottsdale United Amateur Soccer League) 40+ Championship. This is a BIG deal because this has been Fran's goal for 2 1/2 years now. After coming in 2nd place 4 times the team was SOOO happy. This is such a great group of guys on and off of the field. Go Sand Dragons!

Twelve.

Francis and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary yesterday. He got me roses and the sweetest card. We spent the afternoon at soccer games but got to go out to dinner and had a nice night. We're so lucky to have each other. 

eleven

eleven years ago today we were in Maui getting "Maui'd" on the beach.

best decision ever.

 and here we are earlier tonight on our date

 Francis is the best friend I have ever had. I cannot imagine my life without him. We've had a lot of downs over these 11 years but SO many more ups. I know that no matter what happens in life I've always got Fran in my corner & that is pretty darn wonderful.

Happy 11 years of love to us :)

A Decade

Tomorrow Francis and I will be married for a decade.

Just thinking about it makes me a little emotional.

Year 9 was hands down, the hardest.

We had so many trials that at times I was emotionally exhausted (not to mention I had our third baby during that time) and I was not sure if things would ever get back to normal.

But after 6 months, they did.

And, it made me realize that I would do anything for this man.

I love him more than I ever knew it was possible to love another person.

 He is my best friend, he loves me unconditionally, he makes me laugh, he makes me feel strong, he makes me feel so safe & protected, and best of all I just LOVE to be around him. Even if we're just sitting on the couch playing games on the Ipod or watching the most recent Redbox release. We just really enjoy being together. My hope is that one day each of our children will find a love like Francis & I have. I read a quote in high school that said "love is friendship on fire" and that is what I thought I should look for & when I met Fran in 2002,  I found it.

Here is a picture of us when we were dating in 2002

 And again in 2002

 This was in Maui on our honeymoon 2003

 And, finally this is the one and only picture we have of us at our reception (back home in Phx)

Yes, I wore black to my reception. But if you know me then you know that I love black.

And, if you know me you know that I am SOOO lucky to be married to this man.



Laguna Beach/Disneyland 2013

Last Wednesday Francis came with me to watch Kali in ballet class. While we were standing there he said, "let's go to California tomorrow for an early anniversary trip"

and I said, "OK" :)

We went home & Francis looked for a hotel in Laguna (our favorite beach) while I took the kids to play with our new neighbor friends (I met their Mom at Zumba and they live SOO close)

 Then we ate dinner, started packing and I went to the store to get snacks for the road.

The next morning we woke up and left for Cali!

 We've been going to California together for a decade now. It's my favorite place to be & he is my favorite person to be with.

It was also Kora's first time seeing the ocean & she LOVED it!

 Laguna beach is very beautiful, never crowded & we really like the tide pools.

 Kora loved watching the waves.

 Our big beach babies

 And, since Laguna is only 30 minutes from Disneyland we had to spend a day there.

 The weather was so strange it went from really nice to cloudy to raining to nice again and then when the sun started going down in the even it was downright chilly.

 Kali and Daddy have motion sickness so Kai and I go on all of the fun rides together

 

 Kora's first Disneyland trip & she was a CHAMP! She took a nap on the drive there, two naps in her stroller & I breastfeed her 3 times at Disneyland. We thought it would be difficult to take her but we were there for 9 hours and she was great. Love this little lady :)

 Kali wanted to buy this bubble gun she saw some kid playing with & it turned out to be the best toy. Other kids were coming over and playing with her after the parade.

 It started to sprinkle before Jedi training so they cancelled it. Kai was bummed but then Darth Maul came over and told him that he better join the dark side & that he will be watching him all day. IT WAS SO COOL! We are big Star Wars fans so it was the coolest thing for him.

 We ate the best lunch at the Bengal Barbeque...seriously soooo yummy!

 The next day we spent the day outside in the sunshine on the beach.

 Kali said "best day ever!"

 Kai was running along the waves & Francis was skim boarding.

 Kora and I walked to the tide pools.

Then Daddy took her out to the water & she really liked it.

 Kali just loves playing in the sand.

It was a really nice trip & one that I am sure we will all remember forever.

9 years

Happy Anniversary to us!

9 years ago today we were on the beach in Maui, with our families getting married.

We hardly have any pics of just us so here some oldies that I dug up. Two are before we were married and the other two only a few years ago.

Over these 9 years we have gone from just the two of us, to the two of us and Noodle, to adding Kali and becoming a family of 3, to adding Kai and being a family of 4.....now in our 9th year we will become a family of 5!! It's been quite an adventure, not always an easy one but soooo worth every minute.

7 years ago today......