Happy Birthday, Babe!

Today is Mr. A's birthday!

Just a small shout out to the man I love. Today was a quiet day with church, lunch out and our little family playing cards and watching movies.

I know you probably long for the days when you went out splunking in caverns, hiking up mountains or riding your bike up and down the coast. I know this injury has not made it easy for you as you are such a go-getter, but I really do appreciate the times where we can just hang out and relax.

I love you lots and treasure the day you were born, even if you don't like to make it a big deal! You being born is a big deal!!

May God bless you this day and the rest of the days of your life. I look forward to celebrating many more birthdays by your side.

Our So. Cal Trip

We were able to go out and visit family for the first time in over 3 years in the middle of June. We were so thankful to Mr. A's father who helped finance the trip. We couldn't wait to meet our nephews who were born in the last year and see the rest of the family whom we miss like crazy.

We left after work on June 16th and arrived in San Diego late that night. You gotta love the time change leaving from the east coast to the west coast. After a good night sleep and a lazy day catching up on a few zzz's, we hit the ground running.

The first major stop was the Del Mar fair, which is now called the San Diego County fair. Most locals still call it the Del Mar fair. You really can't change tradition. While we were there we met up with both sides of the family. Mr. A's family met us along with my parents. I felt like a cruise director or a travel guide with a huge crowd following us. Literally there were 11 of us in total trying to stay together as a group. We had a ball...fried food, games, rides and beautiful weather. We finished the day with a bite to eat with Mr. A's immediate family where we were able to catch up with each other and discuss plans for later in the week.

The next big event was my sister and her family coming down for the weekend. We were able to hang out with my nephews and take family pictures. This was a production with 2 small children under the age of 5 around lunch time. They were both well behaved just a little antsy. We got some great shots even with fidgety kidlets.

On Sunday, we were able to celebrate KA's birthday and Father's day as a huge family. KA only birthday wish was for everyone to be together at the beach. We went down to the bay and did a bbq and bonfire...a great San Diego tradition. We had a blast roasting marshmallows and hot dogs. KA was able to have both sides of the family with her on her 14th birthday. That was the best gift she could have ever asked for.

The last week as more of just running around trying to hit up the restaurants we love and seeing familiar spots that we love. We did a small trek up to the local mountains for apple pie and bread and a day at the beach. All in all we just hung out with family and enjoyed just seeing people face to face vs. phone calls.

At the end of the week we headed home on the red eye. We ended up with a layover in Newark, NJ and were able to watch the sunrise over NY city. That was awesome! We had a fabulous time with family unfortunately there wasn't any time to hang out with friends. I suppose we could have made a bit more time in our schedules, but it was so nice not having to run around like crazy people all day every day.

To our friends...we sincerely apologize. We love you all very much and appreciate you allowing us to take the time with family that we needed. It was a great time to just love on the people who love us unconditionally.

Off to camp

OK...I have to laugh at this graphic for this post. KA hates the Jonas Brothers and Camp Rock, but it is the only thing that came to my mind when I was typing this post. It's not like it's her blog! ;)

This afternoon I put KA and Mr. A on the church bus to head off to camp for a week. They aren't going to far, about 1 1/2 away, but far enough to have an adventure. This is KA's first youth camp. She went to Kid's camp back in the 3rd grade and I about lost it. She had never been away from home for more than an overnight with friends or family. Today was much better. One she is older and two Mr. A is going to be on the campus. Trust me he will give her more than enough room to spread her wings. He would practically ignore her if that is what he needed to do to make sure she had a great time.

I know KA will have a great time once she gets there. She is my cautious child. She has to analyze everything. She is not one who likes change or disorder and unfortunately that is all camp is. Luckily we had a schedule of events by day and walked her through what would be happening so she could at least have an idea and won't be caught too off guard. Hopefully it helped and did not scare her more. I just want to make sure she makes friends how will stick by her and not cause drama. She really needs some good girlfriends. Some of the best friends I have were established in the youth group and I want the same for her. I hope she can break free of some of her fears and withdrawn side long enough to meet some really great people whom she can have a great time both now at camp and when they return.

Poor AJ is stuck at home with me. She is not eligible to attend youth camp until next year. I thought we could have a girl week watching HS Musicals, Jonas Bros, etc, but so far she has no interest in that. We will see how the week will progress.

Since they can't have cell phones (or any other electronic devices) I wil have to let you know what happens when they return on Thursday. Keep Mr A in you prayers. He is going to be extra cautious but I am praying that his back will cooperate and not cause any problems this week for him. He is not doing any of the activities but is going more as an extra hand to help the youth pastor.

I hope camp rocks for both KA and Mr. A. They both could use this time!