It's been a while

Wow...it's been a while.  And so much has happened, I don't even remember half of it, but here is what I do:

March - We went to Durango, CO for spring break.  It was really nice to take the boys somewhere we hadn't been before.  It was beautiful and there was lots of snow.  We did the train ride and drove in to Silverton.  Of course, when we got there, we only found one open store only selling coffee because everyone closes up for winter, but being from the desert, that was foreign to us.  We had a great family snowball fight on the last day, in which Colton even lost his shoe for a while.  The snow was up to our waist and you sank every time you tried to walk.  Getting a family picture was hilarious.  We also ate at one of the best restaurants we have ever been to called the Sow's Ear.  I'm still not sure how I convinced James to try it, but boy was it worth the try.

May - We loaded up the car for a 15 day adventure.  We started in San Diego for Colton's basketball tournament.  They were 2-2 and then lost their division game at the end, but had a great time.  Of course, in our spare time, we hit the aquariums for Dawson and had a lot of great time with the team.  Then we headed up to LA for a few days.  We went to the LaBrea Tar Pits and CA Science Center and saw the Endeavour.  It was pretty cool to see it all.  From there we headed up the coast to Avila Beach in San Luis Obipso.  It was pretty, but we timed it perfectly so they there was a heat wave and it was 90 on the beach which was a little crazy.  It's just a little town, so we walked around a lot, visited a couple winery's, saw a Mazda commercial be filmed, went to a farmer's market and just had a good time.  From there, we headed to San Fransisco.  Although we have been there 3 other times, we have never drove.  So of course I had to tackle driving down Lombard Street and over the Golden Gate and Oakland Bay Bridge.  I am happy to say, we only got lost in downtown Oakland for 20 minutes and other than that, it went great.  I will say I cannot imagine driving there often with the steep roads and amount of traffic.  After a visit to Alcatraz, we headed over to Lake Tahoe for our annual visit.  It was super warm there this year too, which is much different than the late snow we've come to love.  We did the usual: hike, bike, eat bread pudding.  James' parents and sister came up the last two days and it was nice to show them around.  The drive home reminded us though why we travel alone.

June - Dawson turned 9.  Not quite sure where time is going.  He is such a free spirit and has a unique view on almost everything which I love.  At the end of the month, James was deployed on a wildland fire in Yarnell which ended up killing 19 firefighters.  It was by far the most afraid I have ever been, not just about his job and what he does, but at the thought of not doing life with him.  He definitely is my balance.

July - Colton went to his first church camp in Prescott.  He had a great time.  They kayaked, did paintball, and had huge worship nights at the college.  I am so thankful he got to have the experience of just focusing on God for a week.  The day after he came home was his birthday.  He turned 12!  I remember being 12 myself and cannot believe I am old enough to have a kiddo that age.  He is growing in to an exceptional young man.  He is incredibly bright and caring.  On the 28th of July, Colton decided to get baptized and asked James and I to do it.  That was such an amazing moment, not only to know he has a solid foundation, but for him to ask us to do it made me incredibly proud.

August - School started!  Actually I went back on July 29th in my new role as the librarian.  The district had cut my position at the end of the year, but I was fortunate to be able to continue working with the kids in the library.  It has been great, but it has sure been an adjustment.  I am working one more hour a day, which makes me miss my kids at home.  I am also use to working with groups of 3 or 4, so learning to manage 34 kids at one time has been interesting.  But I am happy I get to continue helping kids learn to read. 

September - Here we are. :) The boys are doing great.  Colton is in Student Council again this year and is being inducted into NJHS next week.  He is playing club basketball again too, so he is pretty busy.  Dawson decided not to run cross country, but is doing well with school and just having a good time with his friends.  On Friday, James and I leave for a little getaway to Laguna Beach that I am super excited about.  It is always hard to leave the boys, but I am hoping it will give James and I a chance to catch up and I will come back relaxed and refreshed and a more available mom than when I left.

Well, this isn't really how I planned on "keeping up" with my blog, but at least I got some of it down.