BMX Track Birthday Party!

We've passed this track several times and were so excited to finally get to experience it during a birthday party (when big kids aren't flying all over the place)!! It was such a hit, Kyle can't wait for his birthday party to be here, too. :) Kyle handled it like a pro and Gavin even got in on the action on his tricycle. Later the following week, Gavin began to ride his big boy bike with training wheels! 

Rails up, Riders Ready, Set Go!!

Gavie and Mochimommy (Miss Kei) talked a lot about what was going on.

Daddy and Kyle

So much fun!!

"Hi Mommy!!" Gavin says.

Happy 4th Birthday, Lucas!! What a blast these kids had!

A Christmas Recap, 2015

I know Christmas may seem like forever ago. It does to me, but I still wanted to document a few things so when our kids look back at this, they'll know that we did indeed celebrate the season! Our neighbor got some family pics of us delivering our neighbor Christmas gifts. The boys were had helped me make the treats from start to finish and loved getting to pass out the yummy goodness to our dear friends/neighbors.

Our friends, Isaac and Annika with a cameo of Miss Jennifer. :)

Christmas Eve, the boys enjoyed reading their Christmas books from our Christmas Advent Book basket. Then, they each wrote Santa a card and we left some treats for him and the reindeer.

Then, early in the morning, the boys cheered each other on while discovering all their presents.

As much as they do argue and have normal sibling moments...it always blesses us to see how much they really love each other. :)

Thank you to all our family for making Christmas morning so exciting!! :)
The following day we picked up my brother and his family from the airport. The cousins got to reacquaint themselves and we all loved seeing our nephew in our homes for the first time.

Pictures ended there as Ru and I spent four whole days celebrating our 12th anniversary with a getaway to our cousins' resort timeshare. It was amazing!!! And may I add, much needed! Thank you, cousins. ;) And with that, we celebrated the New Year. Welcome 2016!! Already, it's been a fabulous year in the Martin home. :) :) :)

Disneyland!!

Happy New Year!! Happy 2016! Man, did 2016 seem like an awfully long way away when I was graduating from high school or even college! Here it is and as usual, I'm running behind on this blog. I'm going to strive to catch us up a bit...

Back in December, Rudy's patient offered us 6 tickets to Disneyland and we didn't hesitate for a second! We invited our Miss Esther and Miss Zoe and their brother Peter and mom aka Mrs. Myers to join us. I've only taken Kyle twice when he was free and I was a guest of my sister's for a work party two years in a row. So, this was Kyle's first trip to really remember anything and it was Gavin's first time ever. :)

We bounced back and forth between the two parks, California Adventure and Disneyland.

Cars Land was a huge hit!

This was Gavin's 1st ride!

We met up with the Myers family and had a great time with them.

"Soaring Over California" is a favorite ride we all enjoyed twice. :)

We had to take this classic shot even if the sun was blaring in our eyes.

Main Street's amazing tree.

We love the Myers family!!!

Miss Zoe (She watches Gavin for 3 hours every Monday while I work! Love Zoe!!)

Miss Esther :)

For the first time in my life, I actually stopped to watch a parade at Disneyland. (I must be a mother now!) Usually, you use this time while a lot of people are watching the parade to take advantage of shorter lines for favorite rides.

The boys loved it and it was actually really amazing.

Cars!! Best new ride!

A night time ride on Gavie's favorite tractor ride (kind of like the tea cups but easier on the stomach).

The boys loved Disneyland (surprise?) and can't wait to go again. Here's hoping for another invite sometime soon! :)

Christmas Tree Chop!

There's a beautiful, virtually untouched area of land called Santiago Canyon that is just within the foothills beyond our city. We discovered it just after moving to the area and have enjoyed taking drives through the windy 2 lane roads. The tiny town of Silverado that sits hidden in those hills reminds both of us of Murdo, or some other small town where life slows down and people wave to each other. It's a cool place to visit when you want to drive 15 minutes and feel like you're completely away in a different part of the country. This year, we decided to go to a Christmas Tree Farm there where they advertise you can cut your own tree down. It was a beautiful evening and we were so happy it was actually cold enough for warm jackets!! I mean, it felt like Christmas for cryin out loud!! :) Here's Gavin looking out among the young trees and the canyon beyond.

We found our tree!! And we were surprised to learn that it was actually cheaper than buying a tree from Oregon brought down to one of our local stores.

It was dark and my flash wasn't working by the time we got to actually chop this guy down, but the boys all held the saw and in no time, Kyle was exclaiming, "Tiiimberrr!!"

We hit up Silverado Cafe to warm up with some hot chocolate and dinner.

Kyle was so happy and proud of our tree. :)

Back at home, one of the neighbors brought snow back from one of the local snowboarding events where a snowblower had been brought in to make snow. The neighborhood kids LOVED sledding down their little snowbank on sleds, shovels and snowboards.

Daddy pushed Kyle over and over and over again. :)

It was a fun night for these CA boys.