a little of this...a little of that: 2010

I couldn't in good conscience put up our fall decorations in our home without providing a summary of our Summer. I know that all of my blog readers were just DYING to see all of these pics.....

Most of the summer was quite mild in weather, although as I write this I am sweating bullets.

I made another pie....Peach this time...

Working on a birthday present for Omi.

He was not as excited to be working on the present.

Mike had a couple of weeks off for his vacation, so we had a chance to do things we wouldn't normally do as a family. Here we are at....I can't remember what the name of this place is. But it is a Chuck E Cheese knock off and they had a fish tank that Peter fell in love with.

Here he is, talking to his little friend, "Nemo."

Dad got to spend some quality time with the boys....

We took a trip to Rancho Mirage again and this time we stayed in a condo. It was so much fun! Here the boys are doing what they do best...watching a movie. I think it was Bolt. We watched Bolt, Toy Story 2, and Over the Hedge.

We also spent a lot of time in the pool because it was 112 degrees! Funny. It is almost that hot right now.

Matthew loved floating around in this floaty thing. Peter loved to just hang out on the steps and play with pool toys. He didn't really like "swimming" around the pool. But it was still really fun!

He and I also discovered Ping Pong one morning while Matthew was napping.

And there were plenty of ducks to feed near our place.

Sometimes he would eat the bread instead of feed the ducks.

Matthew, relaxing....

Peter, relaxing....

After our trip to Rancho Mirage, we dropped the kids off at my parents' house and we headed to Santa Barbara for 2 nights. It was really weird to be without the boys, but we had a really good time.

We had this crazy sesame ahi tuna appetizer for dinner one night. They served it in this weird candelabra thing. It was cool.

We also saw a movie at a drive in theater, which was fun. We saw, "The Other Guys." It got really foggy in certain parts so we're still not quite sure what happened in certain scenes. :)

We love this place! Shoreline Beach Cafe in Santa Barbara. Tables are right on the beach. You can put your feet in the sand while you eat. And best of all, you won't be too poor after eating there because it is not too expensive.

We ended the summer with celebrating birthdays. First we headed up to Oakdale to celebrate our sister in law's 40th birthday. We put Matthew in a new carseat for the 7 hour drive so that he could enjoy some movies with his brother.

Matthew did not make one peep on the way there or the way back. He was very content eating fish crackers. So cute! Peter did pretty well too, but he did get a little antsy at the end.

Here is Peter using the Ipod for the first time. He is watching Toy Story 2. He thought it was pretty cool.

Riding around Oakdale with cousin Josh

cousins.....Peter definitely loved spending time with Josh and vice versa

And Matty and Hannah B had a lot of fun together as well....

We went to the Oakdale Cheese Factory and got to feed some ducks, llamas, and goats.

You could buy food pellets for 25 cents, but apparently the animals also liked eating dry leaves.

Planning his next move on Nana's collection..Nana wasn't there on this visit. She was visiting relatives in England. The boys definitely missed her!

We had a pool party for Karen at a friend's home.

We're so thankful we were able to celebrate Karen's 40th birthday!

I am going to try to start a tradition of taking their picture on this couch every time we visit. Hopefully Peter is a little more excited to have his picture taken the next time...

We got to spend a lot of time with Uncle David. After we left Oakdale, he came down to our place and worked for a couple of days. It was fun for our boys to get to know him better.

We also had a couple of spontaneous beach visits during the summer....

And we ended the Summer by celebrating Matthew's first birthday! Here he is opening his first present from Jasmine (a toy phone) on the morning of his birthday.

Matthew and Jas

I won't type out stuff like, "it is hard to believe it has been a year," because that is what everyone says, right? I am just thankful that we have a healthy and very smiley boy. We are so grateful for the Lord's mercies to us during this past year. Transitioning into a 2 kid family was more challenging than we anticipated, but we are definitely figuring it out and getting into a groove.