Back from our trip, Day 1--Part 1, Day 2--Part 1...

Is that confusing?! I have SOOO much to share!! We had a really great time in San Diego and I'm trying to go through all of the pics I took, so I can share some of our fun! I'm gonna do this in several parts (ummm, hence the title). There are A LOT of pics!
We left early Friday morning for our trip and aside from a few loud screeches, screams, yells, etc. on the plane (from Mr. B, of course), the trip there went smoothly. We made our way down to the baggage claim...this is where the fun begins. My curious little two year old saw a small box with a little handle on it and wanted to see what was inside. I turned just in time to his tiny,sweet, little hand flip the little knob up, Derek yells his name...sirens go off, a big red light starts flashing and the entire airport is staring! And laughing. I slowly walk away. He had opened up an AED...A.K.A, automated external defibrillator. Some annoyed looking gentleman slowly walked over, turned something, and the alram stopped. Whew! That was fun.
We then gather our bags and head to the escalator. Mr. Curious and now very independent insists that he carry his own bag up the escalator. I disagree. He yells. Derek insists it will be fine. So, against my better judgement, I say ok. He gets on, loses his balance and starts falling down the stairs, head first...face down. His little mystery machine suitcase goes tumbling down with him. Luckily, he had no visible injuries. And didn't really even cry...but it scared the crap outta me!! I told Derek I might need a drink!
So that was the first 20 minutes...it does get better ;)
I'm gonna go ahead and skip to day 2, for now. We went to the San Diego Zoo. The weather was SOO amazing! It was hot for California this time of year, but still really nice to us.
(You can click on the pics for a larger version if they are too little...*ETA* or maybe not...it doesn't seem to be working for this post, sorry!)
We started out with some misc. birds...the flamingos are the only ones I know the names of...Bryson was really fascinated and probably could have just stayed there all day and watched them...


So we move one...

We saw lots of birds (this was my favorite)

some tigers cuddling

two giant hippos...I guess also cuddling

and one fake copper one

a clouded leopard...

Ok...I'll post more animal shots on my next post, Day 2--Part 2 :D

The landscaping was sooo beautiful! That was really one of my favorite parts. I LOVE flowers, cool plants, etc...so here are some shots of some of faves...
I think the Hibiscus is one of my faves...


Don't know what this is but thought it was cool

And these were all over the place, in red also.

I have pictures of some of this same plant/flower from my trip to China last year.

Ok. Well...I also haven't posted A THING for Triple the Sketch in forever...so here are some from last month


and also a page I did of Bryson and I that I really love!!


Oh yeah, I was tagged on a friends blog...I will get that in here soon! I promise.

Hope you are all having an awesome Wednesday!
Ember

Can a girl be any safer??

With these two awesome guys by her side??

Derek is out of town, so I felt pretty safe with these two! HA!

Just a little quick post to show the boys in their Halloween costumes. We went to the Fall Festival last night, it's an annual event that our church does. We had a great time!! Well, most of the time. The little "Chinese Super Hero" kept weaving in and out of the crowd...without me! I panicked a few times...but it's actually a pretty small place so I knew he wouldn't get too far. Anywho, he is REALLY appreciating Halloween this year and just kept telling me how cool and great it was. And he wanted to wear his costume again today. He's a nut! Corbin found his friends right away, so it's a good thing I took pics of him before, because we didn't see him again until it was time to leave. So grown up and independent.

Well, I'll post more pics later!
Happy Halloween!
Ember

Seriously, how do I get so far behind...

I think it could be ADD. I took a quiz in this months Real Simple magazine...so, either I have ADD or I just can't get it together. I'm kiddin'...well, kinda...
Well, whatever, just some randomness.
I'm sitting here on the couch, listening to D snore, smelling the dog after she rolled around in poop this evening...while we are at church. Why is that neccessary? We all know who's poop is in the back yard...there is really no need to roll in it. I don't want to take fun pictures with you when you roll in POOP!! SICK!!!

I still love ya, girl!
Yeah, more ramdomness. :D
The weather has been MUCH cooler this week and I love it. I love the fall and winter. And I can't wait for snow. D hates the snow...like really despises the cold weather. I mean he lived in Florida (not sure how long), then moved to Austin in the 2nd grade...so his experience with snow/cold weather is pretty much zero.
RAAAANNNNDDDDDOOOOMMMMM!
Ok...I'll try not to be random anymore :D
We've had another busy week...chiropractor, eye dr., hair appts, Bible studies, fundraiser meeting, choir practice, vet, Derek went to New Mexico yesterday for work, tail-gate on Friday...on and on. Despite all the runnin' around, things have been really good. With everything going on in the country, world...we feel extremely blessed. At this time, there are no real struggles. I'm thankful to have a healthy family, a roof over our head, meals on the tables. Life is good. God always provides in one way or another and always blesses our home. Speaking of blessed, Derek and I are doing really well after LASIK. We both had appts today and we are both seeing 20/15. My eyes are great, no more discomfort, no dry eyes, nothing...it's awesome. Derek's having a little bit of blurriness still, but he said it is getting better everyday. I have some great pictures of him before and after his procedure...but, I think he might kick me out if I posted them. I jokingly told him I had already posted them...he was NOT a happy camper! Maybe some day.

OK, so for some scrappy stuff...
I am the GD at Scrap for a Cure this month...I had to do 4 LOs or 3 LOs and project with the October kit...so I did the latter. Here are the LOs and the project.



Pretty fun! I had fun scrapping old pics of Corbin. I can't belive he will be 10 soon. Freaks me out a little!

Well, that's all for today I guess. I should probably hit the sack!
Ember

Almost 32...

WOW! I can not believe it is October! And October is looking like another busy month...D goes in tomorrow morning to make sure he will be able to have his LASIK on Thursday...Thursday is also his birthday...his 32nd...and his license is up for renewal, too. Which is why this whole LASIK thing came up...he doesn't want to have the "with corrective lenses" on his DL anymore. Now he's worried that he won't pass his eye test on Friday, which he has to have done to get his license renewed to leave on his trip Monday. I guess it's an important trip, and not being there is not an option. He's crazy. And he makes me laugh!!

SEE??!! He's crazy...

Last night was our last night of small group. We have decided to "drop" out for now because we just have too many things going on. We never just get to chill out for a day...so now we have NOTHING on Monday nights!! YAY!! Small group was also at our house, so now I don't have to make sure my house is spotless every Monday night. HA! But seriously, we are going to miss it...but now it's going to be good for our family.

I still haven't taken pics of the cute little boots. But I will soon. I think he would have slept in them if I had let him. He's crazy, too!! I mean, the whole family is crazy...really.
Including the dog.
She has figured out a way into the neighbors yard, we can't figure out how, and just hangs out with their dogs...they have 3 dogs...just barking and running and having a good ol' time. CRAZY dog!

B not only likes to wear his boots around the house...but he also likes to wear other things around the house...a cape, hats, coats or jackets...even during the summer...He likes to zip it all the way up, and puts the hood on if there is one...like this...



or this, an example of his hat fetish...along with a rockin' choice of PJ's...(I put the tops and bottoms together and he still rummages through the drawer and picks this...eh...whatever makes him happy, I guess)...



Crazy.

Ok...so I finally got to get some scrappin' in! WOO-HOO!!

Here is one I did of crazy B the other night...I love it!! He just looks cute and sweet here.


And also my LO for Triple the Sketch this week...

The pics are these stickers I won...here.
Pretty fun!

Well...I best get to bed. I'm getting sleepy!
Em

20/15

In less than 24 hours I've gone from being "blind" to seeing 20/15! I don't really think it has sunk in yet. How can that be possible??! I don't know, but I'll take it!! No more glasses, no more contacts, no more worrying when I shower or swim if my contact will fall out, no more worrying about saline, and running out of contacts...NO MORE!! After 24 years of blurriness...it's gone!! YIPPPPEEEE!!
D goes in next week...I hope that his goes as well as mine did.

Lots going on around these parts. I don't even know where to begin. I think the most annoying thing going on is that our little town has some theives on the loose. And they are robbing our churches...of all the places. I think last I heard our church was the 4th and this week they hit our benevolence ministry, Living Water. Not only did they steal some things and make a mess...but they stole food and then left some of the freezers open! I'm not sure if the food was completely ruined or not...but still...SOOO frustrating!!

Anywho...The boys all went to the Homecoming parade tonight. I really wanted to go and take pictures of the boys...but decided I would stay in and "baby" my eyes another day:) They brought home a TON of candy...

B also got some new cowboy boots from Tina (my step-mom) and my Dad tonight. He looks REALLY cute in them and he was SUPER excited wearing them! SOO CUTE! I will take pics of him later...he's in bed now.

So, another new thing in our house is family game night. Tuesday night is now officially family game night. Last week was our first night and we played Hungry, Hungry Hippo...




This week we played Toy Story Memory...which I didn't get any pics of. It's been fun...B of course usually does something to ruin the game...HA! Not really, he just doesn't follow all of the rules...

Well...If I put EVERYTHING I've missed in the last few weeks...this thing would be like 7 million pages long.


Unfortunately I haven't had a lot of time for scrapping lately :(
BUT, I'm hoping to have some stuff later this week. We've made some changes to our schedule and so we don't have AS many things going on now. Still a lot going on, just not as much.

Well, the weeks almost over and I hope it has been great for ya!

Ember

dumb cookies...

Well...I was planning on updating today...have just been busy and then I kinda forgot. Soooo...I got on here to update and I couldn't sign in due to some issues with my cookies. Anywho, I got it figured out, but now it's time for me to go to bed. I have an appt at 8 in the morning, in Amarillo (that's about an hour away if you don't live around here). So I need to hit the sack.

It should be another busy week...I am supposed to get LASIK done on Wednesday!! I'll post more about that tomorrow also...that is what my appt is for...to see if I actually can get it done for sure. Hope it goes well!!!

I'll leave you with one of my faves of B from last week...

Here is my little super hero...he calls himself "Super Speed".

And when he takes off his gear, he'll tell me that Bryson is back...pretty darn cute!
Hope everyone has a good week!!!

Ember

Wellllll....

I'm like sooo behind I don't even know where to begin!
Life has been non-stop. I think for two weeks we had someone over at our house almost every night. But now school has started and things are starting to get back to normal, somewhat. It's so much easier to keep a schedule during the school year...
Anywho...we've had a lot going on. C started the 4th grade! WHAT??!!? I honestly can not believe he is in the 4th grade. It kinda makes me feel old...HA! He was blessed with an AWESOME teacher this year and we can't wait to see how the year goes. AND they finished the new school, so he is getting to enjoy each day in a brand spankin' new school. It looks so nice. I think the schools here are all at least 50 years old...probably older. So it is a huge treat for our little town.
Here's the big guy off to his 1st day of school...
He was pretty excited.
B was also excited and loaded up a little backpack with crayons and a coloring book...he cried all the way home after he realized he wasn't staying with his big bro. It was so sad...

Speaking of B, he has been going to the chiropractor for some potty issues he was having. He has done SOOO much better than I thought he would and his problem seems to be fixed. Now if we can get him to acutally do his business in the potty, that would be GREAT! He was doing so good, and I don't know what happened, but he's regressed in the last few weeks.
I was really tempted to take my camera and gets some pics (cause it is just so cute)at the Dr. office, but I felt kinda silly and opted not to. He gets along with the Dr. so well...he even gave him a kiss the other day...yep, on the mouth! He's crazy!

Friday is D and I's anniversary...10 years. I can't believe it's already been ten years. I'll have to dig up some wedding photos to put on here Friday. Love ya honey! Can't wait for 10 more and 10 more and 10 more and...well, you get the picture...

I'm random today...jumping from one thing to another...
but the boys also got a trampoline a few weeks ago. B LOVES it...all he wants to do is go jump...all day long. Here he is doing some laps...burning off some of that intense energy...YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!


OK...so I guess I will post some scrappy stuff now...
Here are some LOs for Triple the Sketch...

The first one is B...one of my favorite pics of him...


And here we are this past Easter...the whole fam...Bry was NOT cooperating!

And last but not least...I'm a little reluctant to share this one...I did post it in my gallery, but my friends and family don't look at stuff there...just here. But I really like it and it was good to get things off my chest and on paper...so here it is...


Here is the journaling...just scroll down a little...sorry it's a little long...

Ok, so now that I've depressed everyone..JK!
I guess that is just about it for today...I'm hoping to get back on some sort of bloggy schedule soon...
So until then...
Be blessed!
Ember