here we go....

 I realize I haven't blogged for a long time. I actually have avoided it for quite some time because of the guilt I felt for neglecting it. Before we moved from Oregon I didn't want to blog until I knew where we were going and what job Sam would be doing. Then once Sam did get a job I was so overwhelmed with getting the house ready to be sold, packing, plus since Sam moved a couple months before we did, I was a single mom. I stayed behind so the kids could finish the school year. Now we have been living in Irvine, CA - Orange County- for a little over a year and a half. I was a little nervous to move to "LA" -- but I was so pleasantly surprised. I love it here. The people are so, so nice. I knew the weather would be great and it has not disappointed. The traffic really isn't that bad. I just avoid the freeways during rush hour and always try to avoid LA - the real LA - which we don't live in. We live in Orange County which I have concluded is a whole different world.
Its overwhelming to try to cover everything thats happened in the last year and half - 2 years since I've blogged. So I decided I just will do some quick overall highlights of what we've been unto here and then start fresh.
When I did finally log back on - I started reading my blog - all of our old posts and looked at all the pictures. I loved it and was so grateful I had done it.  My memory is terrible and seems to only be getting worse so the more I can document the happier I will be in the future. I don't want to forget these awesome years. They have already gone by sooooooo fast.  Fresh start. Here we go.

We've done a lot of this...............

And this..............

                           

And this..... 64 trips in a year to be exact

We've had 2 Halloweens here so far...............

 We've done 2 commercials. Kind of by accident - still fun. 

 Gwenny girl got baptized................

 Our beloved Peazy Lou passed away at the age of 12. Still hurts..........

 And we had our very first Christmas on our own, no family. It was different but we tried to make it special. 

 There are so many more things that happened - like birthdays, teeth lost, making friends, school, gymnastics and more. One of my favorite things about living here is that even tho we aren't lucky enough to live next to family anymore, we DO live 13 miles from Disneyland and THAT means we get lots and lots of visitors.  We've had a pretty steady stream of family and friends come visit the whole time we've been here. And that makes me feel more connected which I'm so grateful for.

I am also grateful to be so close to the beach - it is my happy place. How could it not be. Beautiful.