"My most favrotist place on earth"

For Connor's 9th birthday, we told him he could choose any restraunt for dinner. He didn't hesitate when he said "Saweet Tomatoes!!!" "Why?" I asked, Because it's my most favoritist place on earth. "Sweet tomatoes it is then." Wonder why?? Let me break it down.

Appetizer....Dill pickles, croutons, boiled eggs. (all you can eat)

Main course....cheese pizza (a couple of slices will do)

But the Reason of all reasons..... Brace yourself,

DESSERT.....Chocolate brownie, followed by 2 icecream cones dipped in oreo cookie crumbs, and then just for fun, some old fashioned jello slurping. No fork required. Pucker your lips and suck really hard, those jello squares slide in to give you the final sugar surge. Aren't these the cravings of a pregnant woman??

Happy Birthday Bugs....We love you!!!!

True loves first kiss

Don't need to say much the pix speaks for its self. Johns Dad is so awesome and the kids just love him!!

A Big Heart

My dad gave us all quite a scare. He had symptoms of Heart trouble. After an iodine stress test, the doctors knew something was wrong. They scheduled him the next day for a procedure to go through the vein in his leg and scope out the arteries. They found 2 blockages. Gratefully they put in 2 stints and feel that it will greatly improve his quality of life. There is an aneurysm that is being watched. We are all so grateful for his darling wife Pat!! Her nursing skills and love nudged him into the doctors office and ultimately saved him! Thanks Pat. We love you both and are blessed that this procedure is making you feel better. Aren't they so cute!!!

Beauty ZZZZZZ"S

This is Syd. EVERY time we go somewhere in the car, she brings as much as she can carry in her little purse. The purse falls on the floor and all of the little things spill out. Needless to say, the floor of the car looks like the floor of the play-room. I swear I will make her take everything back in the house. Yeah it never happens. I have polly pocket bits, melted lipgloss in every flavor and color, we melted a whole box of crayons, that was a fine art project. I think I found skittles from the year 2000, way under the seat!!! She picked up this eye patch thing from a friend, It was on the ride to costco that she realized she would give it a try. If you ever wondered... They totally work. Check her out. I laughed so hard I cried when I turned around and found her snoozing.

Neighborhood Clean Up Canine

Meet "Duke" he is lovingly referred to as our neighborhood dog. Duke is the size of a small pony. He loves to invite himself to a BBQ. He really loves it when there is a birthday! He kindly thanks us for the impromptu visits by cleaning all of the garbage. He licks all of the frosting and BBQ sauce from every plate, and then proudly leaves the cleaned paper products all over the lawn to show how much he cares!! Its almost as though he thinks we can re-use them for next time. "Thanks Duke!" We love Ya!!

Happy 17th Birthday Ash!!

This is one of my favorite pix. Can you believe how tall Ian is?? He is only 16, I think he will grow more. Any bets on his final numbers?? I guess 6"6'. We just love our kids and think they are the best. We feel honored to be their parents!!!

Deep Sea Fishing in a "Panga boat"

Ian Chillaxin

Isn't he so dang cute! We had such a great time hangin with Ian. He is so

great with the kids. He plays with them and Syd just loves her big brother.

Can you believe he is 6'4"??

This is classic Sydnie... She loved this little traditional mexican dress, armed with her own money, she negoitiated a nice price. She got it for half the asking price. She takes after "Auntie Monica". She was happy to strike a pose with her fresh flowers and her new purchase!!!!!

All a girl wants!!

A new sun dress, fresh flower in her hair, throw in a new hat and she's good to go! We are on our way to the beach looking oh so festive.

Ashlee's Portfolio

Ashlee's portfolio from San Felipe

Its crazy to imagine that my first born is now 17 WHAT THE CRAP!!!!!!!!!! I will be honest, I struggle with it. I want to tuck her away in my front pocket and keep her there forever. But thats not the master plan now is it. We have to let them go off and be free. Ashlee had inherited her grandpa Calvins artistic gene. Her medium is first photography and second painting. Im including a slide show of her photo's from Mexico. I think she is amazing and all of these photos were taken with a small purse size nikon digital. She has a talent. (don't you think) This isn't just a Mom thing right???

CASA DE LEONES

For years John and his Dad have been going to San Felipe Mexico. Its on the Sea of Cortez eastern coast of Baja. Grandpa Don has had a membership to the El Dorado Ranch for 17 plus years. In the early days all that meant was that you could stay in a trailer on the beach and watch them pour concrete into a hole in the ground that would one day be a pool. Eventually that happened but the accommodations suffered for years. The beach was always nice but the rest hmm....So he has been mentioning a trip to John almost every month for at least a year. We decided to make it a family vacation. He promised a finished resort with an 18 hole golf course, restaurant, tennis, pool, palapa bar, fishing, 4 wheeling..........I went to the website to book a trailer and was pleasantly surprised to find "Casa de Leones" What a dream!! This house was fantastic and as promised the resort did not disappoint. It is fabulous with condos on the beach and fully stocked houses nearby. One of our funnest vacations.

How to protect yourself from global warming.....

Apply 1/2 a tube of SPF 50, It's important that you put 1/2 the tube on in one

application. Failure to do so will result in 2nd degree sunburn. DO NOT I repeat

DO NOT rub it in. For detailed instructions refer to the picture below. Grandpa

Don has it down!

I laughed so hard I cried! He was lathering up for our Deep Sea Fishing excursion when we were in Mexico..... His feet had the other half of the tube. Thought for sure he would slide right on out of his strappy sandals. Good thing he wore socks!! heee

A reunion of friends

This is where it all began. John and I met in the parking lot of this lodge 13 years ago on a blind date. The Silver Fork lodge up Big Cottonwood Canyon. On the left are Bill and Robin, and Derek (Degsie). We all traveled as a group to Scotland in 2000 for the British open at St. Andrews. Now we all reunite for an evening of remembering the good ol days. Bill and Degsie, carried our then one year old Connor all over the Scotish country side and everyone was cursing the Hummer sized Buggy we took. This was a fun weekend. We stayed at our Solitude Condo, went swimming and hiked around Mirror lake.

Golf lessons from Degsie!

Golf Lessons from a true Scotsman! Degsie spent a morning with Connor at South Mountain
golf course and helped him work on his swing. This is the kind of sport mothers love. Low percetange of broken bones, bruising, and overall banging up.

Rule's Schmules

The rules:

1- Absolutely positively NO Cameras!

2- No Cell phones

3-No weapons

4- No alcohol

And the list went on and on.. I obeyed every one of them on day 1 and regreted not having

a camera. Such a pristine course and nothing to remember. On day 2, I wised up and broke

the rules. I payed attention to the security process and had a master plan. (It's me wishing I were a CIA operative). Got the camera in!!! I had to sacrifice the lining of my purse but well worth it. With Marshall's swarming the place like a bee hive, I had to get creative when I took the

photos. (sacrificed my check book cover) again well worth it! It was a nifty plan, one I will brag about for years to come. I cut a hole in the checkbook cover large enough for the lens to be exposed and slipped my compact camera in the sleeve on the inside. Looked like a device for shade, meanwhile I'm snapping away. OK so they are far from profesh but not bad. I got photos of the Sunday final and then as some of you know it went to a Monday playoff!! We managed to secure tickets and attended the Monday game. Again I snuck in the camera but felt like pushing it a bit and decided to see if I could get my phone in!?!? No problem. I could communicate and photograph, (glad i didn't get arrested) What a great weekend. My legs hurt so bad by Monday, It hurt to walk. 3 days of sprinting from one hole to the next is such a great workout. I thank my

husband and Degsie, for letting me "in" on a boy weekend. True joy!

"begining of a marathon"

Our dear friend from the U.K. flew 6000 miles to join us for a weekend at Torrey Pines for
the U.S. Open. John is one tournament away from a Grand Slam. Prior to the glorious golf, John
set us up with saweet seats in the club section for a Padre, Dodgers game. The Padres cleaned up with a 9 to zipo win!! What a fantastic park, right it the middle of the Gas lamp of down town
San Diego. And the week began..............................